Antioxidant Content of 300 Foods

First is the chain-breaking. This is where the antioxidant comes in to break the chain reaction of free radicals turning other molecules into free radicals like them. Chain-breaking is also called Stabilization. The other aspect is more on the preventive side. Antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase prevent oxidation by reducing the rate of chain initiation. 

Antioxidant foods are powerful scavengers of free radicals. The function of antioxidant foods is to hunt down free radicals and destroy them. What are Free Radicals? Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances that are produced when the body undergoes the process of oxidation. The reason that free radicals are highly reactive is that they lack electrons, which cause them to be highly unstable. 

For this reason, we depend solely on our diet in order to get the store of antioxidants we need to combat diseases. Antioxidants protect the body from harmful, excess free radicals, sweeping them up before they can cause damage. These days, when we talk about antioxidants, the first thing that comes to people's minds is "supplements. 

Antioxidant Fruits: The Benefits Many people are already familiar with antioxidant fruits, such as citrus fruits which are known for their high vitamin C content or apples for their beta-carotene. Consuming lots of antioxidant fruits in your diet will help boost the body's defense against free radicals and oxidative stress (damage caused by free radicals). 

In the study about antioxidant juice from pomegranates, researchers have found that the substance can effectively reverse the progression of atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis causes decreased blood flow that can lead to heart attacks or strokes. The tests showed that antioxidant juice from pomegranates reduced the effects of stress on human blood vessel cells by stimulating the production of nitric oxide. 

Lead researcher of the Creighton team, Dr. Debasis Bagchi, announced that Activin seemed to exhibit more powerful potential compared to the other antioxidants. "Our studies show that Activin is a more potent antioxidant than vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene - up to seven times more potent," Bagchi said when he reported the findings of their study at the Experimental Biology conference in New Orleans.