Role of Antioxidants in Health Maintenance

Role of Antioxidants in Health Maintenance

Health is wealth and there are hundreds of things that contribute in making a healthy you! If you indulge in some research to find out the ways that can lead you to a healthy life, you’ll end up getting confused as what to do and what not to do! There are literally many things to take care about so in short, ensure that if not all, you have a decent knowledge of diet and habits that needs to be followed for living a normal healthy life. And to this, lets discuss today one added piece of information for your health maintenance – role of antioxidants in your life!

First of all, what are antioxidants? In simple words, an antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of other molecules. Antioxidants actually stop the chain reactions produced by oxidants. So, what is their role in health maintenance?

Free radicals are formed in the body as by-products of normal metabolism due to exposure to radiation and other environmental pollutants. These radicals, being highly reactive, have a tendency to damage cellular components by implicating in a variety of diseases. Now there comes the role of antioxidant enzymes that help in neutralizing the free radicals in the body. In case of individuals who are healthy, there’s a delicate balance that exists between free radicals and antioxidants. But, in cases where individuals are diabetic or critically ill, the oxidative stress can cause the level of antioxidants fall below normal. Hence, the antioxidant supplements come to the rescue during such time. So, the best approach towards a healthy life for anyone is consuming adequate amount of antioxidant-rich foods like fruits and vegetables.

As we all know, oxygen is a necessary element that helps in controlling metabolic reactions in human body. When the amount of oxygen shoots up in the body, it results in formation of deleterious toxic free radicals which have the tendency to quench the macromolecules including proteins and nucleic acids. After this, human body synthesizes both enzymatic and non enzymatic antioxidants in order to counteract the toxicity of the free radicals. Though the non-enzymatic antioxidants are small molecules, they are capable of preventing the oxidative damage done by free radicals.

To summarize, make sure to include antioxidant rich diets as it also has the power to control health problems like cancer, aging, heart disease and so on. This will enable you to lead a healthy life!

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