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Free radicals and antioxidants
are the new health buzzwords but what are they and what affect
are they having on you?
What's a
free radical? If you want the science it's an unpaired
electron. These electrons produce energy for us. As well as this,
they defend us against infection too, so they are necessary for
life.
The body has its
own defence system, Antioxidants! Antioxidants
cancel out these free radicals that are causing
damage to the surrounding cells by giving them another electron.
The only problem
is these single electrons need to be in a pair, by matching up
or stealing others, more single electrons are formed. It's when
these new pairs are formed we get problems as damage is caused
to the surrounding cells.
The main part of
the free radical defence system is based on Vitamin
C and Vitamin E, the only problem being
that we cannot produce these vital vitamins ourselves. So we have
to keep replacing them. Other main antioxidants
are the carotenes, especially beta-carotene and the minerals selenium,
magnesium and zinc.
We get these vital
resources from fruit and vegetables as well as supplements. All
of these suplements are available in the health
shop today
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