The Worst Junk in the World
Monday, November 24, 2008
Health 101
The Power of Antioxidants
-Reader's Digest | The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs
Although Oxygen is essential for life, it can have adverse effects on your body. In the normal process of using oxygen, chemical changes occur that create reactive unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals, which can damage cells and structures within cells, including genetic material (DNA). Free radicals (see article.) also may form in response to external factors such as cigarette smoke and alcohol, pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and ozone, and ultraviolet lights and other forms of radiation, including X-rays. If the genetic material in cells is affected by free radicals and not repaired, it can be replicated in new cells, contributing to cancer and other health problems. Free radicals may also weaken artery walls, allowing fatty deposits that can lead to heart disease to collect.
However, cells have special agents for combating free radicals and repairing molecular damage. these free-radical fighters are called antioxidants. A great deal of recent research suggests that antioxidants may play important roles in preventing or delaying heart disease, cancer, and other ills, and may even halt the damage to cells, thereby slowing the effects of aging.
Vitamin C and E are perhaps the best-known antioxidants. The mineral selenium (example of selenium) is also an antioxidant, as are carotenoids such as beta-carotene and lycopene. Enzymes and certain other compounds such as glutathione, manufactured by the cells themselves also function as antioxidants. Some experts now thing that a number of other substances, including certain herbs, may act as antioxidants as well. For example, gree tea, grape seed extract, and ginkgo biloba (among others) are all thought to have antioxidant properties
-Reader's Digest | The Healing Power of Vitamins, Minerals and Herbs
Although Oxygen is essential for life, it can have adverse effects on your body. In the normal process of using oxygen, chemical changes occur that create reactive unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals, which can damage cells and structures within cells, including genetic material (DNA). Free radicals (see article.) also may form in response to external factors such as cigarette smoke and alcohol, pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and ozone, and ultraviolet lights and other forms of radiation, including X-rays. If the genetic material in cells is affected by free radicals and not repaired, it can be replicated in new cells, contributing to cancer and other health problems. Free radicals may also weaken artery walls, allowing fatty deposits that can lead to heart disease to collect.
However, cells have special agents for combating free radicals and repairing molecular damage. these free-radical fighters are called antioxidants. A great deal of recent research suggests that antioxidants may play important roles in preventing or delaying heart disease, cancer, and other ills, and may even halt the damage to cells, thereby slowing the effects of aging.
Vitamin C and E are perhaps the best-known antioxidants. The mineral selenium (example of selenium) is also an antioxidant, as are carotenoids such as beta-carotene and lycopene. Enzymes and certain other compounds such as glutathione, manufactured by the cells themselves also function as antioxidants. Some experts now thing that a number of other substances, including certain herbs, may act as antioxidants as well. For example, gree tea, grape seed extract, and ginkgo biloba (among others) are all thought to have antioxidant properties
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