Plain Answers To The Question What Is An Antioxidant
by Ty Wu
Every day consumers are bombarded with dire warnings about their health. They are urged to buy a host of supplements that will help reduce their risk for contracting heart disease, cancer, asthma and a host of other scary conditions. Among many other modern phrases, more and more people want to know exactly what is an antioxidant. It seems that this is a key to good health.
Everybody knows that oxygen is one of the main keys to live as we know it. Every living thing needs it in order to survive. Oxygen plays several important roles, such as facilitating reactions that produce energy. This is done by metabolizing proteins and carbohydrates, amongst other. However, because oxygen is so highly reactive, it sometimes become part of destructive molecules, called free radicals.
Free radicals are really nothing other than molecules that have split apart because the bond between the molecules became weak, thus rendering them unstable because in the process they have lost an electron. It is their very instability that can make them dangerous. These free radicals can be the result of factors such as environmental pollution, excessive exercise, high stress levels and even insomnia, among others.
Unstable free radicals try to gain back their missing electrons. They do this by attacking healthy cells. Unfortunately, this causes a reaction, because the healthy cell also becomes a free radical that will attack other healthy cells to gain back the missing electron. This process causes the death of many millions of molecules. This chain reaction can lead to many health problems, including arthritis, neurological diseases, cancer and lung disease.
The destructive chain reaction caused by the free radicals can only be halted when all free radicals receive an additional electron. This is where antioxidants play a vital role. They are able to donate an electron to a free radical without becoming one themselves because they remain stable with or even without the additional electron. In this way the free radicals are neutralized.
There are many foods that are rich in this miracle substance. Not all foods contain the same level, however. Tomatoes, all types of berries, green vegetables, beans, broccoli and prunes are just a few foods that contain high levels. The potency of the various foods to absorb free radicals is measured on the ORAC scale. Tomatoes, for example, enjoy a score of sixty while cherries score a hundred points, making the latter more powerful.
Health experts and dieticians advise that everybody should try and consume more foods that are able to neutralize free radicals. Natural foods, preferably fresh, is considered to be more valuable to supplements in the form of tablets or syrups. This body produces this substance necessary but because food is so highly processed it cannot produce enough. Pollution and high levels of stress also makes it difficult for the body to cope.
Finding out what is an antioxidant is the easy part. Understanding its importance and making a concerted effort to include it in the diet is quite another matter. Free radicals can quickly become a serious health problem and most experts agree that most people need at least two or three portions every day.
When you want a response to the question of <a href="http://www.health-foods.net.au/">what are antioxidants</a>, visit the web pages online here. You can see information about the subject at http://www.health-foods.net.au/ now.
---------------------------------------------------
You are receiving this because you signed up for it on 2011-11-27 from IP 188.29.196.69
To fine-tune your selection of which articles to receive, just login here:
http://www.uniquearticlewizard.com/bloggers/
using your username:
To unsubscribe please use the following link:
http://www.uniquearticlewizard.com/unsubscribe.php?mail=nightcabcontroller.sante1@blogger.com&code=f1f5baef192407461ee7ffe7468a92d2
---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
New Unique Article!
Title: Plain Answers To The Question What Is An Antioxidant
Author: Ty Wu
Email: drkemi@drsuperfoods.com.au
Keywords: health,food,fitness,diet,business,internet,marketing,heath and food,weight loss,nutrition
Word Count: 527
Category: Health & Fitness
---------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment