Antioxidants: Your Armor Against Aging
When it comes to aging, free radicals are public enemy number one. Our cells use oxygen to produce energy. In the process, they generate free radicals - unstable oxygen molecules created during basic metabolic functions as circulation and digestion. Free radicals are also produced by sunlight, by toxins such as pesticides, and by cigarette smoke and air pollution. Most free radicals encountered in our bodies, however, come from oxygen. They are an unavoidable by-product of daily living.
Free radicals can damage virtually every part of a cell, including the nucleus, where DNA, the body’s unique genetic blueprint, is produced. If they connect with collagen molecules in our skin, the result is that the collagen becomes damaged. When the collagen becomes damaged, the skin gets discolored and stiff and loses elasticity. The end result is that free radicals sap our skin of its youthful appearance.
Fortunately, our bodies have developed a defense system for fighting free radicals. This defense system is powered by antioxidants. Antioxidants join with free radicals to prevent them from latching on to the various components of other cells. Essentially, antioxidants work by making the free radical harmless.
The most power antioxidants are vitamins such as E, C and beta-carotene. Others, however, occur naturally inside the human body. Our inability to fight free radical damage occurs when our bodies are out of balance. In other words, when free radicals are produced in circumstances such as prolonged exposure to sunlight or ingestion of toxins such as cigarette smoke, the body’s antioxidant system can be overwhelmed and the free radicals move about unchecked. Known as oxidative stress, supplementing the body’s supply of antioxidants can, however, keep this situation to a minimum, or at least slow it down considerably.
What we eat is the first step in keeping an adequate supply of antioxidants in our body. Include an array of colorful, pigmented fruits and vegetables in your diet every day. Recommended vegetables include broccoli, spinach, kale, brussel sprouts and other dark, leafy greens. And recommended fruits include blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, blackberries, and goji berries.
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Tags: antioxidants, collagen, free-radicals, oxidative-stress