Antioxidants: disarming the bad guys
Antioxidants are nutrients that help to protect your body from damage. While drinking too much booze, smoking and eating a bad diet harm your body, damage is also caused by everyday essential activities such as breathing, digesting food or fighting infections. This is because oxygen
— involved in every body process in every cell, every second of every day
— is chemically reactive. It becomes easily unstable and capable of ‘oxidising’ neighbouring molecules, which can damage cells and trigger ageing, inflammation and even diseases such as cancer.
Unstable oxygen molecules — called ‘oxidants’ or ‘free radicals’ — are also present in pollutants (e.g. from industrial processes, cigarette smoke or exhaust fumes) and in fried, burnt and/or barbecued foods.
The good news is the body has an inbuilt repair system, but this needs particular nutrients to power the antioxidant enzymes that disarm the oxidants. The main players are Vitamins A, C, E and betacarotene, the precursor of Vitamin A that is found in fruit and vegetables, plus the minerals zinc and selenium. But you also need the antioxidant nutrients called coenzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid, glutathione and resveratrol, the secret ingredient in red wine, for maximum antioxidant protection.
The balance between your intake of antioxidants and your exposure to oxidants may literally be the balance between life and death. You can tip the scales in your favour by making simple changes to your diet and by supplementing antioxidant nutrients。
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