The antioxidants
plus
How can an anti anything be good for you?
Antioxidants provide a maintenance and disposal service
for the body. While oxygen is necessary to maintain life,
the by-products created when cells use oxygen, known as
oxidation, can be harmful to cells. If you were a car, this
process would be called rusting.
To become stable, oxidants steal electrons from other
molecules and, in the process, damage cell proteins and
genetic material. Antioxidants come to the rescue by binding
with these unstable by-products, known as free radicals,
transforming them into non-dangerous compounds.
"If free radicals are left to their own devices, they may
cause heart damage, cancer, cataracts, and weaken your
immune system," says Nicole Nisly, M.D., UI Health Care
specialist in alternative medicine at the UI Family Care
Center.
|
|
