Health: Usefulness of Antiioxidant

Antioxidants are needed by the body in substantial quantities to boost immunity and ward off disease. Although the body has its own natural antioxidant defense mechanisms there are some key antioxidants that must be supplied through the diet.
What Are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are important substances that the body needs to offset the presence of free radicals. Free radicals are chemicals that are naturally produced when the body converts food to energy (metabolism). Exposure to environmental toxins like tobacco smoke, ultraviolet rays, and air pollution can also cause free radicals to form. The body counters free radical production through a combination of its own natural antioxidant defenses as well as antioxidants supplied by the diet.
How Can Antioxidants Fight Disease?
Antioxidants fight disease primarily through their effects on free radicals. Most diseases are in some way or another linked to free radicals, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, degenerative diseases, and inflammatory disorders. When the body's antioxidant defense mechanisms are impaired or when there's an insufficient amount of dietary antioxidants, free radicals build up causing damage to cells, tissues, and organs of the body. Over time, this free radical damage leads to the onset of diseases.
DID YOU KNOW?
The process of aging increases the presence of free radicals in the body. While this process can't be reversed, free radical damage and, consequently, premature aging of the body's systems can be greatly minimized by regularly consuming a diet rich in antioxidant-containing foods.
What Are the Different Types of Dietary Antioxidants?
Numerous vitamins and minerals possess potent antioxidant properties and are therefore classified as antioxidants. The primary antioxidant vitamins include A (or carotenoids), Eand Cwhile the main types of antioxidant minerals are copper, selenium and zinc. In addition to these vitamins and minerals, there are hundreds of different phytonutrient compounds housed in plant-based foods that have antioxidant-like effects. These include flavonoids, lignans, indoles, isoflavones, and polyphenols.
How Can Dietary Antioxidants Be Obtained from Foods?
Dietary antioxidants can be found in a variety of different foods across all the major food groups. Vegetables and fruits are some of the richest sources of antioxidants, especially carotenoids, vitamin C, and phytonutrient compounds. While the content of these antioxidants varies from food to food, some that contain the most include cruciferous and dark leafy green vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, red tomatoes, berries, and citrus fruits. In addition to vegetables and fruits, other plant-based foods like nuts and seeds, legumes, and whole grainscontain phytonutrient antioxidants.
Some antioxidants can also be found in meats, fish, poultry, and eggs. All these foods are rich in the antioxidant mineral selenium, however, lean beef, pork, eggs and organ meats also house large quantities of zinc. In addition, egg yolks and organ meats contain retinol, which is another form of the antioxidant vitamin A. Unlike the other antioxidants, vitamin E can be obtained from a unique mixture of foods including egg yolks, organ meats, vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains.
To ensure that you're getting an adequate supply of dietary antioxidants, it's important to consume a diet that's nutritionally balanced with foods from all the major food groups. You should also make an effort to reduce your exposure to disease-promoting environmental toxins whenever possible.