Staying Young with Antioxidants

Everyone wants to grow old gracefully.  Some go under the knife to get that youthful look while others opt for a more natural way to maintain that healthful glow.  The way to make peace with age can be found in the types of foods that we eat and the miracle ingredient they contain. We start by explaining “How Do Antioxidants Work and then review where to find antioxidants in food and what vitamins and minerals are considered antioxidants.
This hidden “miracle” is called antioxidants. They have graced the pages of magazines, medical journals and every product from hand cream to supplement pills.  But what are antioxidants and what can they do to keep you looking your best?

How do antioxidants work?

How Do Antioxidants Work

Antioxidants are substances that fight the aging process that goes on in your body.  They are not produced by the body so to get the benefit of these power-packed substances you must ingest them.  A variety of foods contain antioxidants.

Let’s go back to the beginning.  The body continually replenishes its cells.  Through a process called cellular metabolism, the body produces energy, more cells and repairs any damage.  One by-product of cellular metabolism is unstable molecules called free radicals.

Free radicals are molecules that damage your body.  They are unstable because they are missing an electron.  To get another one and become stable, free radicals will steal electrons from cells.  That theft damages the cells in a variety of ways.

The results are visible and invisible changes to our bodies.  The development of diseases like cancer, diabetes, arthritis and neurological deficiencies may begin to affect you as you age.  Also, thinner skin wrinkles and brittle bones are a problem.  Free radicals enter our body from outside sources as well: cigarette smoke, radiation and the sun’s UV rays.  The more free radicals we encounter, the greater the damage that can be done. I know this is a little technical in nature – but we wanted to give you an overview of how do antioxidants work in the body.

Antioxidants have been shown to be of great help in the free radical problem.  Antioxidant substances combine with free radicals and neutralize them.  Once they are neutralized, they can no longer do any damage.  Scientists don’t have any idea of a recommended daily dose of antioxidants to correct free radical damage and the diseases that come with age, but they do know that eating foods rich in antioxidants makes a huge difference in how we live.

Now that we have explained in some detail how do antioxidants work – Where do you find antioxidants?  They are all around us.  Look no further than your local farmer’s market or produce aisle in the grocery store.  Fruits and vegetables contain the principle sources of antioxidants.

Examples of antioxidants include:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin E
• Lutein
• Lycopene
• Beta-carotene

Certain minerals like zinc and selenium also function in the body.  They are not antioxidants but they boost the immune system to fight against free radical damage.

Antioxidants are also found in nuts, legumes, cold water fish, seafood and red meat.  So, eating a varied diet of fruits, vegetables and the foods just named will increase the amount of antioxidants in your system and help reduce the incidence of disease.  Eating fruits and vegetables in their natural form instead of juices brings the benefit of other nutrients found in the foods.  Juices also contain a lot of sugar that is not needed by your body.

Food does more than stave off hunger.  Natural substances found there can cause us to live longer and stay free of disease as we age. We hope the above details gives you a starting point in explaining how do antioxidants work, where to find antioxidants and what foods and supplements you should consider.

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When people start searching for a nutrition guide they usually face some critical situation. They are either planning some major life change such as pregnancy or weight loss, or they have some health problem that forces them to change diet in order to get well. You may not know what to expect from a nutrition guide either.

Well if you just want to get fit or eat well to cope with pregnancy, we recommend that you look through a general nutrition guide that can show you the main food groups and how much of each you need to consume to stay healthy. In case you plan to lose weight, the nutrition guide won’t be enough, as you may also have to commit to regular physical activities.

Then, if you suffer from a specific health condition, you need a more specialized nutrition guide. Unless you find one ready made for the illness, you can talk to a nutritionist or dietitian to help you put up the dietary plan specific to your situation. The nutritional needs of a diabetes patient will certainly differ from those of a hypertension sufferer. There are usually dietary restrictions that you need to follow whenever you try to deal with a disease.

Another situation in which a nutrition guide can prove useful is when you are concerned about your child’s harmonious development. When you become a parent you hardly know what a kid needs to grow well. There are dos and don’ts in a kids’ diet that you have to get informed on, but you have to look into the matter yourself and do some more extensive reading. A general nutrition guide will not help you if your child is not two years old yet.

Be careful with the selection of the nutrition guide. The information should be checked and double-checked from other sources too particularly if something you read contradicts your knowledge. It is best to use a guide created by a professional and recognized dietitian rather than by a ‘nobody’. Don’t make the mistake of treating nutrition lightly, because you will just ruin your health.

To sum it up: everybody needs a good nutrition guide, but while some people are aware of this, others simply ignore their body’s signs that eating habits are not exactly correct. Dull-looking skin, water retention, overweight, acne, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, hair loss and lots of other problems are the clear signs that nutrition is not at its best with you.

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