| Antioxidant Supplement: What Foods Have Good Antioxidants For Your Body? |
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If you take care of your health and watch what you eat, chances are, you've heard of the many benefits of antioxidants. But what exactly are antioxidants, and why are they often celebrated as one of the most important nutrients to maintain good health and prevent diseases?
In this article, we'll explore a little more about what antioxidants are, where to get them and how to boost antioxidant levels in your body with antioxidant supplement Malaysia.
Well, antioxidants are powerful substances that mostly come from the fresh fruits and vegetables we eat. As our bodies use oxygen, a waste product called reactive oxygen species (ROS) is produced - these can damage healthy cells by attacking your cell structures. They are also often referred to as free radicals.
Free radicals are also produced from exposure to cigarette smoke, excess exposure to the sun, drinking alcohol, from exposure to large amounts of heavy metals and during any inflammatory response.
Antioxidants neutralize the effects of these free radicals - that's why they are essential to good health. That's because if free radicals are left unchallenged, they can cause a wide range of illnesses and chronic diseases.
The human body naturally produces free radicals and antioxidants to counteract their damaging effects. However, in most cases, free radicals far outnumber the naturally occurring antioxidants.
In order to maintain a good balance of antioxidants vs free radicals, a continual supply of external sources of antioxidants is necessary in order to obtain the maximum benefits of antioxidants.
Foods that are rich in antioxidants can boost the body’s own supply, and there are plenty of evidence that suggests antioxidants from plant-based foods may become especially important as we age and produce more free radicals.
Some of the best types of antioxidants and their food sources are:
Research into antioxidants indicates that particular antioxidants have specific roles in disease prevention. These diseases include:
It is widely agreed that a diet high in fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer. Growing evidence also shows that whole grains offer protective effects against both types of disease, although this may not be related specifically to their antioxidant capacity.
Research has found possible protective roles against cancer from various antioxidant-rich foods including spices, herbs and tea, fruit, vegetables and antioxidants in extra virgin olive oil.
Studies of particular antioxidants has shown that they protected elderly people from further developing macular degeneration, the major cause of blindness among the elderly.
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