By now, you’ve probably heard about antioxidants, and that you should be taking them. But what are antioxidants, how can they help your body, and where does your body get them from? This article helps answer these questions, provides a brief antioxidant definition, and gives some tips on who and where to acquire some different types of antioxidants.

To begin with, what are antioxidants? A simple antioxidant definition is that they are substances that help neutralize free radicals in your body by stabilizing their chemical structure. They are believed to reduce the physical effects of aging, and possibly prevent disease. The human body produces some antioxidants naturally, while food and health supplements provide others.

Now that we have a simple antioxidant definition, we will now ask what they actually do for our bodies. The simplest answer is that they do exactly what the name implies. Antioxidants help prevent or slow down the oxidation process in the body. Pollution, environmental factors, natural body functions, and a sundry other things create free radicals. Free radicals are molecules in the body that are missing an electron from their chemical structure, which they are constantly trying to replace. In order to stabilize themselves, the free radicals steal electrons from your body. This causes “oxidative stress,” which is damage to the body’s cells and tissues. Some scientists believe that the “oxidative stress” can cause disease and early signs of aging.

Antioxidants provide the extra electrons to the free radicals and prevent them from causing damage to the body’s cells and tissue. This is why many believe that antioxidants have anti aging properties, and prevent disease.

Finally, what are some sources? The body naturally produces some antioxidants. However, many of the antioxidants that the body uses come from the food we eat. “Oxidative stress” occurs when the body does not have enough antioxidants to stabilize the free radicals. Therefore, it is important for your body to obtain enough antioxidants to fight the free radicals. The best natural sources are fruits and vegetables. Some of the best natural sources include green tea, ginseng, many types of fruits, leafy vegetables, nuts, and various other items. However, if your normal diet does not include enough antioxidants, health supplements are a potential alternative. Health supplements can provide extra antioxidants when your body is not getting enough. However, it is important to be careful when taking supplements. Although it seems like the more the better, it has been shown that too many antioxidants can be harmful to the body. Therefore, it is advisable not to overdo it and take multiple, or overly potent supplements.

Overall, antioxidants are important to your body, and although the benefits are not fully known, you should try to obtain a reasonable amount through your diet, or supplementation. Monitoring your antioxidant intake can help you prevent the damage sustained from free radicals and potentially reduce the effects of aging, and possibly prevent disease.