The Effects Of Antioxidants

On Our Body

Most of us know that antioxidants are good for us, given their positive coverage in the media over the past few years. But how many of us really understand the effects of antioxidants on the body? This article describes how antioxidants help protect our bodies from both disease, and other damage.

Antioxidants And Their Effects On The Body

In simplest terms, antioxidants are natural substances that reverse the damage done by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that start a chain reaction of events through their effect on our cells, and more often than not, cause damage. Let's have a deeper look at how free radicals are formed, and thus gain a better understanding of the positive effects of antioxidants.

A Little Bit Of Chemistry...

You might recall, from your school days, how our bodies are made of different types of cells, and how these are in turn created from a lot of different molecules. From a biochemical point of view, molecules are made of at least one atomic element joined with another, with chemical bonds.

Without going heavily into chemistry, we can recall that an atom is composed of neutrons, protons and electrons. The electrons are negatively charged particles that form an orbit around the protons and neutrons that cluster at the nucleus.

An atom is stable when the outermost shell of orbiting electrons is full. This is significant in our body because stable electrons don't enter into chemical reactions. Of course, our body depends on chemical reactions to maintain health, but not all chemical reactions are positive, and free radicals fall into this last category.

When an atom is not stable, the nature of atoms means that it tries to gain chemical stability. Because this means a full outer shell of electrons, atoms will do this by:

1. picking up or dropping an electron to either fill or empty the outer shell
2. or bond with other atoms, thus sharing its' electrons in the outer shell, with the end result being to complete that outer shell

How Free Radicals Are Created

A free radical is basically an atom with an unpaired electron. They are formed when weaker chemical bonds between atoms split. And because they are intent on forming a stable unit, they will try to get the electrons they need from other, previously stable molecules. Unfortunately, this sets of a chain reaction. Whilst the initial free radical may now be stable, by taking electrons from a stable molecule, it creates another free radical. And so the cycle continues.

This highly reactive nature of free radicals can completely disrupt living cells.

Effects Of Antioxidants On Free Radicals

Fortunately, nature has an answer to free radicals in the form of antioxidants. Antioxidants can stop the chain reaction of ever increasing free radical destruction by neutralizing free radicals. They do this by donating one of their electrons to the free radical. This spares the DNA and other elements within our cells from losing their electrons to free radicals. It thus prevents cellular damage and mutations, which cause disease.

Because antioxidants themselves become oxidized in this process, our bodies need a constant source of antioxidants.

Antioxidants also help prevent the formation of oxidative chain reactions. Antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase prevent oxidation by reducing the rate at which oxidative chain reactions are initiated. Thus, instead of waiting for free radicals to create a long chain of free radicals, antioxidants scavenge initiating radicals and destroy them before oxidation is set in motion.

Whilst our body produce some antioxidants naturally, the actual levels of antioxidants we have available depends on our diet. We should be eating at least 5 serves of fruit and vegetables per day. Bright colored produce like tomatoes, watermelon, red peppers, kale, broccoli, spinach, berries and citrus fruits are good sources of antioxidants.

Antioxidants can also be found in coffee and tea, especially the green and white varieties. Dark chocolate is also a source of antioxidants but should be consumed in moderation. Even red wine contains antioxidants, however more than one glass per day can negate the beneficial effects.