How Do Antioxidants Benefit The Human Body?

By Richard Davis


A large number of medical specialists are promoting fruits and vegetables as part of a daily diet plan. There are a lot of good reasons to the suggestion, but one of the reasons would be the antioxidants that almost all fruits and vegetables supply. But just what are antioxidants? Why are they extremely important?

Process of oxidation happens all around us from piece of potato turning brownish color to rust in a machine. It is a normal process that also exists in a body. Our body system normally copes with oxidation well, but occasionally it leads to cell damage. The damaged cells are referred to as free radicals, molecules with unpaired electron. Since it is unpaired, it will try to steal an electron from other molecules. Whenever this reaction becomes intense, it can easily trigger a lot of illnesses like cancer, heart problems and arthritis. Cigarette smoke, pollution and radiation add up to the development of free radicals as well. Antioxidants are compounds that counteract free radicals.

By providing an electron to free radicals, antioxidants minimize cell damage. It is necessary to consume nutrients that come with antioxidants daily to live healthy. Numerous vegetables and fruits are a fantastic source of antioxidants because of vitamins C and E. These vitamins are recognized to be among the best antioxidants. Fruits and vegetables like strawberry, kiwi, papaya, spinach, bell pepper, and broccoli are the ideal supply of vitamin C and E. However these vitamins are not the sole source of antioxidants and actually they are not the most effective source.

Increasingly more nutritionists agree Epigallocatechin or also called EGCG could be a better source of antioxidants compared to vitamins E and C. A large number of scientists agree that EGCG is 100 times more beneficial than vitamin C and 25 times more efficient than vitamin E in avoiding free radicals. EGCG is an ingredient contained in green tea. Many of the acknowledged tea benefits include preventions against cancer, fat gain, LDL cholesterol, depressive disorders and heart problems.

There have been a number of lab tests with regards to the effects of green tea on cancer cells. The results show the serving of 300mg of EGCG every day to be the best amount. One cup of tea has close to 100mg of EGCG. Far more case studies are on the way, but as for now 3 cups on a daily basis looks like a good amount.

At this time there are quite a few ways to take in green tea. Standard way is to make and to drink the tea. This really is good especially when taken while eating food. Another common way is to add tea powder to citrus water. Combining lemon juice with EGCG has been known to increase the benefits. A convenient way is to take green tea tablets. This will work for folks not liking the bitter tea taste.




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