Antioxidants are found in our every day diets and are vital to our health and well being. Many fruits and vegetables have high amounts of these healthy compounds. There are also many supplements available today, such as Purity Products Triple Greens and Super Reds which are extremely high in antioxidant levels. Although many people have heard of the benefits of antioxidants, few really understand what they do for the body.

Antioxidants are chemicals found in our foods which help neutralize other types of chemicals which are harmful to our health. Specifically, the harmful chemicals are called free radicals. A free radical is a compound which has had at least one electron stripped from it. This gives the compound an overall positive charge and causes it to be very reactive with anything it comes into contact with. If the charged compound comes into contact with body tissue, it can damage or destroy parts of it. The benefits of antioxidants are that they will react very readily with the free radicals and neutralize them; thus saving the body’s own tissues from suffering damage.

Although free radicals form naturally and have always been with us, environmental factors such as pollution and cigarette smoke (including second hand) have caused an increase in their presence. Even though we all ingest antioxidants in our foods, many nutritionists are advising an added supplementation to further take advantage of the benefits of antioxidants. There are many products on the market today which offer high doses of antioxidants (No, you can’t over dose on them since they are simply derived from food products.) Foods high in vitamin C and E provide the most benefits of antioxidants. All of the brightly colored vegetables are good sources.

The health benefits of antioxidants are many. Overall they act to keep the body’s tissues healthy and free of attack from harmful radicals. Specifically they have been shown to help prevent cancer and heart disease, aging, and improve brain function.
Some of the foods offering the highest benefits of antioxidants are:

• Orange and yellow vegetables
• Leafy green vegetables
• Spinach and Broccoli
• Carrots, peppers and tomatoes
• Cantaloupe
• Sweet potatoes and pumpkins
• Mango and papaya
• Brightly colored berries

Be sure to include as many of these foods in your diet as possible in order to receive the benefits of antioxidants. It is also advisable to supplement one’s diet with one of the many nutritional supplements available today.