Antioxidants
Toxins, Free Radicals and Anti-oxidants
Toxins are all around us - in the air, the water, the food and the building materials in our homes. The last 30 years has seen witness to the fastest growth of agricultural chemicals ever to be dumped on our planet's soil. It is not unusual for fruit and vegetables to be sprayed 10 to 15 times during their production and post harvest. These pesticides are dangerous to our health.
When we are exposed to pollutants or toxins our cells create energy and produce free radicals. Medical research has shown that free radicals provide the trigger that sets off most of the chronic degenerative diseases. Free radicals can damage the cells that line the arteries, and the fat cells in the blood, the immune cells, and free radical damage (or oxidation) has been linked to the formation of every degenerative disease known including cancer, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, arthritis, and the ageing process itself.
Our body has an inbuilt defence mechanism, that is, it produces antioxidants, which, together with antioxidants from the food we eat, provide the missing electrons to the oxygen molecules in the oxidation process. This process works as long as we can take in enough antioxidants to deal with the free radicals our cells produce. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to get enough antioxidants from the food we eat to deal with the escalating free radicals produced to deal with the ever-increasing toxins and stress our bodies are exposed to. We are constantly being exposed to increasing amounts of free radicals due to increasing environmental toxins in our living and working environments.
Obviously the first action to take is to limit our exposure to toxins and pollutants. To do this we need to understand the sources of these toxins, many of which are in the home and in the food we eat. But even then we need to increase the antioxidants in our body. The only way to significantly increase the antioxidant level is by taking nutritional supplementation, in conjunction with a healthy diet.
When looking at antioxidant supplements make sure the product is made to pharmaceutical grade, that there is proven results ie the serum ORAC is raised by taking the antioxidant, and make sure the product is plant based with no harmful additives.