16 | Nutrition Magazine October 20 1 5
What you need to Know
about Antioxidants
Ant ioxidant s: what you need t o know:
All of the body?s cells use oxygen to
produced energy for their work. Oxygen is
free radicals for your body?s health, but
exposure to oxygen also causes oxidation. In
oxidation, body chemicals are altered and
become what are known as free radicals.
Exposure to environmental factors such as
sun exposure, cigarette smoke, alcohol and
pollution also creates free radicals. Free
radicals are electrons without a partner is
unstable and highly reactive. It needs to pair
up with another electron in order to return
to stable state. The free radicals quickly
react with other compounds in an attempt to
capture that needed electron. When two free
radicals react with each other, their unpaired
electrons foam a bond. In some cases the
product is fine but while others the product
is toxic.
Overtime, free radicals can cause a chain
reaction in your body that changes
important body chemicals, DNA and parts of
your cells. Some cells can heal while others
are completely damaged.
Ant ioxidant s
Are natural substances that may stop or limit
the damage caused by free radicals? Your
body uses the antioxidants to stabilize the
free radicals.
By LUTFA ALI
This keeps them from causing damage to
other cells. Antioxidants can protect and
reverse the damage caused by oxidation of
some extent. If antioxidants are
unavailable, or if free radical production
becomes excessive, problems develop.
Unrepaired damage accumulates with age.
Free radical attack in protein