The Effect Of Antioxidants On Health Benefits And Antioxidants

With this increase in the productivity of farmers, came a proliferation of food processing industries and fast food restaurants. These food processing industries and restaurants capitalized on the abundant, overly cheap commodity crops to their advantage; to make profit, and to the disadvantage of poor Americans. During processing of these commodity crops, the natural nutrients that give these foods their natural flavors are destroyed. To replace these, food additives and flavorings are added to restore their taste and prolong their shelf life. Often these chemicals contain some harmful elements that affect the way our bodies use food. These highly processed foods, dense in calories,

Did you know that diets rich in anti-oxidants have been shown to prevent disease, inflammation and improve immune systems in studies dating back to the 1960’s!

Twenty healthy, age-matched (36 years of age, on average) subjects were randomized to either receive 200 mg of Polygonum cuspidatum extract (PCE) (containing 40 mg of resveratrol) or a placebo daily for 6 weeks. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at 1, 3 and 6 weeks. Oxidative stress was determined by analyzing blood for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Inflammatory state was determined by assessing nuclear NFKB DNA binding activity (via gel shift assay) and TNFα mRNA expression (via PCR testing). Resveratrol supplementation was found to significantly reduce ROS generation, NFKB DNA binding activity, and TNFα mRNA expression compared to both baseline and the placebo group at 3 and 6 weeks. (see figure 1). The authors therefore concluded that 6 weeks of a resveratrol-containing supplement could reduce both oxidative stress and inflammation. A major weakness of the study is that the authors failed to report the sex of the subjects making it challenging to compare these findings with other studies. Furthermore, this study used a PCE supplement, which contains several other antioxidants in addition to resveratrol. The possibility therefore remains that these other compounds or an interaction effect could have been responsible for some of changes that were observed.

Your body is in a constant battle against infection, diseases and the formation of free radicals. However, there's a secret weapon that can help you fight against these things: antioxidants! Antioxidants are elements such as vitamins A, C and E that counteract the damage caused by free radicals and help protect your healthy cells. Free radicals are the molecules that contain unpaired electrons, which make them highly reactive. In this form, they can cause damage by attacking healthy cells, and when these cells grow weakened, you become more vulnerable to disease.

As a society knowledge in the nutritional capacity of our food is becoming an increasing factor. The world has begun to place more importance on producing and manufacturing quality food with nutritional ingredients. Research has begun to reveal certain components of food

Antioxidant rich foods are also extremely important. Antioxidants are found in other plant based foods, essentially those which contain large amounts of vitamin C and vitamin E. Foods such as blueberries, strawberries, lemons and limes fall into this category. Of course there are many others. Green tea is also very high in antioxidants and is a great drink to consume multiple times throughout the day.

In the course of evolution man has lost his ability to produce some powerful antioxidants such as beta carotene and vitamin C in your body. Are preserved, however, other antioxidants (Eg melatonin) That inactivate free radicals and thus form a powerful defense system against them.

The roles of antioxidants( Endogenous compounds) are to neutralize the excess of free radicals, to protect the cells against their toxic effects and to contribute in disease

Vitamin C is very essential to our bodies. Vitamin C helps the body to maintain its collective tissues. This also includes our bones, blood vessels, and skin. Vitamin C is scientifically known as L-ascorbic acid. The vitamin is a water-soluble vitamin that can be found in several fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C can also be found as a dietary supplement. It is essential for our bodies to have some source of vitamin C intake. “Vitamin C is required for the biosynthesis of collagen, L-carnitine, and certain neurotransmitters; vitamin C is also involved in protein metabolism. Collagen is an essential component of connective tissue, which plays a vital role in wound healing. Vitamin C is also an important physiological antioxidant [3] and has been shown to regenerate other antioxidants within the body, including alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E).” (1) The overall body intake for vitamin C runs to a high of 2g. Lower amounts of vitamin C can be found in areas such as eyes, pituitary gland, and

Natural Antioxidants are abundant in fruits and vegetables such as, apples, blueberries, broccoli, cherries, cranberries, Grapes, spinach, and Spirulina a blue-green algae.

In addition to several antioxidant compounds that mop up free radicals themselves, mustard contains compounds that enhance the activity of both ingested and internally produced antioxidants. Sulforaphane for example, although not an antioxidant itself, is an effective inducer of internally produced antioxidant enzymes. These, in turn, enhance the activity of the crucial intracellular antioxidant, glutathione and also catalyze production of another of the body's powerful antioxidants,

Anthocyanins in foods also provide advantages in anti-cancer, liver protection, reduction of coronary heart disease and improved visual acuity applications (Timberlake and Henry, 1988; Francis, 1989; Mazza and Miniati, 1993; Bridle and Timberlake, 1997). This class of phytochemicals is used in the food and pharmacological industries because of their anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties (Espin et al. 2000, Tsai et al. 2002). Anthocyanins are characterized as having an electron deficiency due to their particular chemical structure, which makes them very reactive toward free radicals present in the body, consequently enabling them to be powerful natural antioxidants (Galvano, 2005).

According to World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Heart Association (AHA), Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of mortality worldwide. The primary contributor to coronary artery disease and resulting cardiovascular complications pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, Atherosclerosis is chronic inflammatory process of deposition of fatty cholesterol filled plaque in arterial wall which narrows the diameter and obstructs blood flow down the length of coronary artery and throughout its branches. Nowadays, micronutrients are been studied extensively for minimizing risk intervention of CVD. Among these, dietary supplements antioxidants available over the counter are highly commercialized but scientific

Chocolate has two groups of antioxidants called flavonoids and polyphenols. Antioxidants fight against free radicals in the body. Free radicals are unbalanced compounds created by the natural cellular processes in the body and from environmental toxins. Antioxidants are compounds including vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that neutralize free radicals and protect the body from their damage. The substances in antioxidants counteract with the damaging normal effects of the body’s process of oxidization. Research shows that antioxidants help in preventing the development of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, and cataracts.

Food preservatives can be broken down into two basic groups- natural and chemical. Natural preservatives are methods such as sun-drying, freezing, or adding other ingredients like honey that essentially slow down the speed at which food spoils. Chemical preservatives are chemicals added to foods for the same purpose as natural preservatives are. It is the same with additives; the difference being that they may be also used to purposely change a food’s look and taste. Preservatives and additives are used in most of foods, especially in our pre-packaged meals, whether it be natural or chemical versions being added.