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be i nformed A Guide to Antioxidants Recently you may have heard the latest buzzword in diet/nutrition - “ Antioxidants.” What are they? Where do you find them? What can they do for you? Read below for information that can significantly improve your overall health!

What is an Antioxidant? The term “Antioxidant” refers to a group of organic sub- stances, including vitamins C, E and A and selenium (a min- eral). Antioxidants also include a group known as carotenoids - beta-carotene being the most popular and well known of the group. Carotenoids are responsible for giving many fruits and vegetables their vibrant colours. Antioxidants are believed to be effective in helping to prevent cancer, heart disease, stroke and a variety of other ailments associated with natural aging. How do Antioxidants work? Antioxidants work by prevent- ing oxidation from occurring in your body. Believe it or not, oxygen—the very thing you need to survive—can harm you. Think of how the flesh of an apple browns when it’s exposed to air. That’s the ef- fect of oxygen—called oxida- tion. Dipping the cut apple in lemon juice prevents brown- ing since the lemon juice is an antioxidant. Oxidative stress occurs when someone has

If there are too many free radicals and not enough antioxidants, the balance is off - there are not enough antioxidants to go around, and the damaged cells become more susceptible to diseases such as cancer or heart disease. What are some examples of antioxidants? Antioxidants are found in plants - protecting them from ultraviolet light and acting as

too many “free radicals” in his or her body and not enough antioxidants to combat them. Left unmanaged, free radicals can damage cell walls, genetic material within cells and other cell structures. Over time, such damage may lead to disease. Again, antioxidants are believed to assist in pre- venting disease by destroying free radicals before they get the chance to do harm to your body.

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