Find out the health benefits of antioxidants, and learn how to get them into your diet.
People tend to talk about antioxidants as a broad category, but they’re actually more of a big family. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, and so are Vitamin E and Vitamin A . There are many more, each with their own benefits.
But when too many free radicals build up in the body, they can do serious damage to cells. This may contribute to conditions like cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Free radicals aren’t all bad. They play an important role in many biological processes including cell division. They also help cells talk to each other and they help your body defend against infection.
Antioxidants are substances that protect the body by neutralizing unstable molecules called free radicals. They develop when atoms in the body gain or lose charged particles called electrons.
Because antioxidants have the power to neutralize free radicals, they can lower your odds of some diseases.
Here are some of the ways they can help:
They could help prevent cancer. Some research suggests that antioxidants can prevent some of the damage free radicals cause that can lead to cancer. But more research is needed to determine whether antioxidants from foods can help to reduce people’s risk of cancer.
They could help your eyes. Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is the most common cause of permanent vision loss in adults over age 60. It happens when the macula, important tissue deep in the back of your eye, begins to wear away. In time, it can lead to loss of your central vision field.
Antioxidants may help to lower your chances of AMD by up to 25%. If you already have AMD, they can help you keep more of your vision.
Vitamins C and E, both antioxidants, can lower the chance of cataracts. These are protein build-ups that cloud the lens at the front of the eye, ultimately causing blurry vision. Antioxidants may also slow the progression of cataracts, letting people maintain better vision longer.
They could help your heart. There’s a lot of debate about whether antioxidants help lower people’s chances of heart disease. On one hand, research has shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables have lower risks of heart disease and stroke. Early research has shown that antioxidants may be responsible for this benefit.
On the other hand, follow-up studies of antioxidant supplements have failed to show the same benefits. Some scientists believe that this has to do with the higher concentrations of antioxidants in supplements.
Getting antioxidants from foods may be the secret, but more research is needed to find out if there’s a real connection.
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