We hear a great deal about antioxidants lately, and about how good they are for our health. But what are they really? Let me shed some light on this truly fascinating subject that underscores just how heroic fruits and vegetables are as the cornerstone of our diets.

The Role of Antioxidants
"Antioxidants" is the name given to a broad category of vitamins that guard proteins, fats, and other substances from oxidative damage, and serve to stabilize cell membranes. This is another way of saying they are very good for our health.

Antioxidants prevent or stop what is called "free radical damage," which is a factor in cancer, diabetes, eye disease, heart disease, effects of aging, and more. Antioxidants also act as long-term preventive agents. They cannot reverse damage, but they can retard its progress. Damage that leads to chronic diseases is cumulative, usually occurring over decades.

It is important that antioxidants be consumed on a daily basis to slow this cumulative damage that builds up over the course of a lifetime.

What is "Free Radical Damage?"
From a chemical point of view, antioxidants are substances that prevent or slow down oxidation reactions. Many oxidation reactions are absolutely essential for our survival. For example, we use oxygen from the air to oxidize our food, which provides the necessary energy our cells need to function.

Sometimes, however, oxidation reactions release uncontrolled reactants called free radicals. Free radicals are produced as byproducts of metabolic processes. They also come from environmental pollutants (such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone of polluted air, heavy metals, halogenated hydrocarbons, ionizing radiation, rancid oils in our foods, and cigarette smoke, among other sources). If unchecked by the appropriate antioxidants, free radicals attack the cell walls and cell constituents, including DNA and other opportune targets, damaging them in the process.

In fact, free radicals can damage both the structure and function of cell membranes, which can result in: