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What Are Antioxidants and Why Do you Need Them?
Simply Stated!
To Prevent Disease
The higher the levels of antioxidants, the longer a person can be expected to live...
it is just that simple!
Youth, beauty and health can be yours! This page contains products that contain powerful antioxidants that help rid your body of free radicals. Poor eating habits, stress, and environmental conditions increase the amount of free radicals attacking your body on a cellular level and cause your cells to oxidize. Oxidized cells have been linked to premature aging of your skin, some forms of cancer and many other cellular malfunctions.
Antioxidants-An Extreme Health Complement to Your Body's ORAC Needs
by Extreme Health Inc.
Perhaps there is no greater investment in maintaining a youthful body and anti-aging vitality than the consumption of antioxidants. Oxygen is a life-giving and life-sustaining property allowing for the proliferation of existence on this planet. Yet, oxygen also has an oxidative (rusting) effect on our bodies, and it is this rusting that results from unstable molecules that is at the heart of premature aging. Once oxidation occurs some studies indicate that poor health can result anywhere in the body.
Antioxidants are theorized to interact with and stabilize unstable molecules known as free radicals. A single free radical can cause damage to millions of other molecules in your body, setting off a chain-reaction of internal damage. Free radicals assault cells, have been linked by studies to a host of different chronic conditions*, and generally may prevent your body from proper functioning. This pillaging action can negatively affect tissues, large enzyme complexes which help to regulate your metabolism, vitamin C, and DNA that holds genetic instructions for cellular development and is responsible for inherited traits, from hair color to disease susceptibility.
Antioxidants are substances that can protect cells from the accelerating aging process of damage caused by free radicals; they also stimulate the immune system's response to help fight disease*. Considerable evidence from a variety of studies indicates that there is a positive link between longevity and antioxidants in the body*. The higher the levels of antioxidants, the longer a person can be expected to live – just that simple!
The Gold Standard for measuring antioxidant capability or protection is the ORAC unit, which translates into oxygen radical absorbance capacity, and cannot be measured by scanners! The ORAC unit of measure - developed by Tufts University , Brunswick Laboratory, and the USDA - is the ability of a nutrient to stabilize and neutralize the harmful effects of free radical damage. It was determined that the body requires between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units per day to functionally counteract the effects of free radicalization*.
Some companies boast about the “science” of measuring certain color molecules like carotenoids, using scanners which absorb certain light wavelengths, and thus use these results as the basis for determining total antioxidant protection. While units of measure called Body Defense Scores that range in the thousands can appear impressive, antioxidants are not just about carotenoids. The body needs a variety of antioxidants derived from a mixture of sources to protect against free radical damage*.
Examples of a smorgasbord of antioxidant sources include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, other vitamins, and many minerals such as copper, zinc, selenium, etc. All of these different substances work as a team to neutralize free radicals and pass them out of the body as part of the natural elimination of cellular waste through the kidneys and liver.
Generally, antioxidants are said to help:
- Protect cells from premature, abnormal aging*.
- Promote the growth of healthy cells*.
- Destroy the free radicals that damage cells*.
- Fight age-related macular degeneration*.
- Provide excellent support for the body's immune system*.
Fortunately, Advanced Alternatives Center provides several solutions that can have a significant effect on your overall health and give you the range of antioxidant contributors that are so needed for optimum health and longevity.
Antioxidants is a classification of several organic substances, including vitamins C and E, vitamin A (which is converted from beta-carotene), selenium (a mineral), and a group known as the carotenoids. Carotenoids, of which beta- carotene is the most popular, are a pigment that adds color to many fruits and vegetables -- without them, carrots wouldn't be orange, for example. Together as antioxidants, these substances are thought to be effective in helping to prevent cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
At the molecular and cellular levels, antioxidants serve to deactivate certain particles called free radicals. In humans, free radicals usually come in the form of O2, the oxygen molecule. The oxygen molecule wants to be oxidized (remember that stuff from your chemistry class?), and this oxidation process can sometimes be carcinogenic. Free radicals are the natural by-products of many processes within and among cells. They are also created by exposure to various environmental factors, tobacco smoke and radiation, for instance.
If allowed to go their merry way, these free radicals can cause damage to cell walls, certain cell structures, and genetic material within the cells. In the worst case scenario and over a long time period, such damage can become irreversible and lead to disease (e.g., cancer). This is where antioxidants come into play. Based on this can you guess what role antioxidants play in the maintenance of health?
Antioxidants play the housekeeper's role, "mopping up" free radicals
before they get a chance to do harm in your body.
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What Do Researchers Know About Antioxidants?
Researchers have postulated that antioxidants prevent the possible carcinogenic effects of oxidation. Despite numerous studies carried out on the role of antioxidants in cancer and heart disease prevention, the jury is still out as to which groups of people, if any, benefit from taking antioxidant supplements.
Some studies have shown that smokers with diets high in carotenoids have a lower rate of lung cancer development than their smoking counterparts whose carotenoid intake is relatively low. However, a recent study indicated that some beta-carotene takers, primarily smokers, actually had higher death rates. Other research efforts have suggested that diets high in carotenoids may also be associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer. Also, vitamin C has been found to prevent the formation of N-nitroso compounds, the cancer-causing substances from nitrates and nitrites found in preserved meats and in some drinking water.
Many researchers claim that elderly people, especially those who have reduced their food intake, frequent aspirin users, heavy drinkers, smokers, and people with impaired immune systems may benefit from taking antioxidant supplements daily. In terms of heart disease and stroke, it is possible that higher levels of antioxidants slow or prevent the development of arterial blockages, a complicated process involving the oxidation of cholesterol. Moreover, antioxidants may deter the collection of plaque on arterial walls.
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Disclaimer:
All information on this site is provided for informational purposes
only! By no means is any information presented herein intended to substitute
for the advice provided to you by your own physician or health care
provider. You should not use any information contained in our site to
self-diagnose or personally treat any medical condition or disease or
prescribe any medication. If you have or suspect you have a medical
condition you are urged to contact your personal health care provider
immediately. All health supplements or products purchased in this site
contain clearly labeled product packaging, which must be read to ensure
proper use. All information and statements regarding dietary supplements
have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are
not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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