Antioxidants truly are your best friend

Why do I say antioxidants are your best friend? Well wouldn’t your best friend protect you through thick and thin, all the time, at all cost? That is what antioxidants do.  Antioxidants are crucial to your health as they are believed to help control how fast you age by combating free radicals, which are at the heart of age related deterioration..

In his book The Antioxidants, Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D. explains how humans have one of the longest natural lifespans of the animal kingdom, and that this may in part be due to the wealth of antioxidants in our omnivorous diet. Our bodies produce antioxidant enzymes that are not found in many other creatures.

According to Dr. Passwater, “Our natural antioxidant processes compensate for one another, covering up momentary deficiencies by their overlap.” Before we dive into antioxidants, you must first have a basic understanding of free radicals, because free radicals are what make antioxidants so essential to your health.

Your body produces free radicals as a result of normal metabolism and energy production. Free radicals are a biological response to environmental toxins, such as cigarette smoke, chemicals, sunlight, cosmic and manmade radiation, and even a key feature of pharmaceutical drugs. Free radicals are also produced when you have inflammation in your body and when you exercise.

A free radical is a highly reactive metabolite missing one or more electrons—it has at least one unpaired electron. This missing election is largely responsible for the process of biological oxidation . These “partial molecules” aggressively look to replace their missing parts by attacking other molecules.

These reactions are commonly referred to as “oxidation” reactions. A biogerontologist named Denham Harman first discovered the concept of free radicals in 1954, while researching an explanation for aging.

There is a duality to oxygen. Without it we would all be dead in a few minutes, however if we have too much it will damage our tissues. Oxidation is like biological rusting and similar to what occurs to an iron bar that is dumped in the ocean.

You can also see evidence of biological oxidation after cutting into an apple and watching it turn brown from exposure to the air. The rust on your bicycle frame and the green patina on your penny are additional common examples.

Free radicals seek to steal electrons from many of the proteins in your body and can also result in damage to your DNA and other cell structures.

So what foods have antioxidants? Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are your best source of antioxidants. Nuts, wild caught salmon, green tea, herbs and spices They can also come in supplement form.

 Dr. Dave States: Anti-aging has been a strong growing prevelance in our society.  We all want to stay healthy longer and more active.  Therefore is should be a multifaceted approach starting with a good multivitamin from metagenics or pure encapsulations.  Knowing that keeping your free radical damage lower with high level of antioxidants.  Protandim is one of the highest level of antioxidants that you can get  here on My Remedy Shop.

Start today by having a berry smoothie or beautiful salad and fight those free radicals that make you age and get sick!

Submitted by Tricia @ Nutrition by Tricia