Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Antioxidants: getting older, growing younger

Blackberries are a source of polyphenol antiox...Image via Wikipedia
Like our cars need anticorrosion treatment to stay in good shape, so do we: our anticorrosion (anti-aging) product is called "antioxidants".
Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells;  an antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing this oxidation process.  Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves.
The main oxidation process in  life is aging, so in order to reduce aging, we need to add the right antioxidants to our food.
Where we can find those antioxidants? Antioxidants are present in  vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and polyphenols, among others.
 Many antioxidants are often identified in food by their distinctive colors—the deep red of cherries and of tomatoes; the orange of carrots;  the yellow of corn, mangos, and saffron; and the blue-purple of blueberries, blackberries, and grapes.  The most well-known components of food with antioxidant activities are vitamins A, C, and E; β-carotene; the mineral selenium and the compound lycopene.
Of course , as we dont live in a laboratory, we want you to take your antioxidants in the most natural form, aswell as it its most effective form. The darker the berries, the more anti-aging they are, dried tomatoes are much more antiaging than fresh tomatoes, as the concentration of the antioxidants is 10 times greater in dried tomatoes; a glass of red wine a day  gives you a lot of antioxidants, a bottle red wine a day will not do you any good.
Just to show you that more quantity doesnt add more quality in your life, regularity and diversity are the keys to  "getting older, growing younger".



Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.