Antioxidants
What are antioxidants?
An antioxidant is a molecule that has the ability to prevent the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical process whereby electrons are transferred from one substance to an oxidizing agent. A very common form of oxidation is rust – it is formed by the reaction of iron with oxygen which corrodes the iron.
The oxidation process is one that is considered damaging to the body since oxidation results in free radicals, a very unstable form of atom or molecule that has unpaired electrons floating around looking to grab onto an electron from elsewhere. When free radicals are present in the body, their highly reactive nature gives rise to chemical reactions in the body that can be harmful to normal body functioning. And that’s where antioxidants step into the limelight.
How will Antioxidants Help Me?
Antioxidants are our body’s miniature cleaning cloths, wiping up all the free radicals in the body and making sure they don’t harm the normal functioning of the cells in our body. How do these free radicals get into our bodies in the first place, you ask? There are many avenues in which free radicals enter the body, such as breathing - when cells in the body use oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals as a by-product.
As you can see, it’s pretty much a given that if you are still breathing, your body is going to be pumping these free radicals around! That’s why nutritionists have been hammering the point home that antioxidants are an essential addition to our daily food intake, and should be consumed on a regular basis.
What Foods are the Best Sources of Antioxidants?
We know you’ve heard it from the mouths of many nutritionists, but really can’t go past the fresh fruit and veggies for your daily intake of antioxidants. Some items are richer than others on the antioxidant scale, however, and there are even a few surprises!
Raw (and preferably organic) cocoa beans or cocoa nibs yield an extremely high antioxidant count, scoring an Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) value of around 95,000! This is not dairy milk chocolate we’re talking about though; this is the raw stuff, the real deal.
Other ORAC superfoods you might like to consider include blueberries, green tea, organic red wine, goji berries and yep, you guessed it, as many serves of fruit ‘n veg as you can possibly stomach in a day. Let those little free radical sponges get to work on your body and see how good you look and feel after a few months. Your body doesn’t tell lies.
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