Old sprouting garlic has heart-healthy antioxidants

With the use of a much more precise method than the one used in 1999, the study found that the dietary antioxidants found in honey are equal to those in many fruits and vegetables in their ability to counter the degenerating activity of highly reactive molecules known as free radicals. "It's still too early to say definitely, but honey seems to have potential to serve as a dietary antioxidant," Engeseth said. 

As an antioxidant, the flax oil's lignans can help boost the body's immune system, keeping harmful, disease-causing germs from damaging the cells. These plant hormones are also believed to block the formation of hormone-based tumors. Lignans also boost the productions of a substance attached to estrogen and carries it out of the body. 

Enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, these are only a few of the substances found in the body that can help repair cell damage. But that's only as far as repair is concerned. What about controlling free radicals in the form of prevention? Now, this is where antioxidant support comes in. 

During oxidation, certain chemical substances are produced and among them are those that are highly reactive and chemically unstable. These substances are called free radicals. Free radicals can be harmful to the body, especially if there is an excess of them. They may cause damage to the cell membranes, causing them to weaken. 

Catechins are the natural antioxidants found in the Camellia sinensis plant where we get our green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. In the carotenoid group, beta-carotene is the most common natural antioxidant. Another name for beta-carotene is vitamin A, that essential vitamin that helps prevent eye damage. 

Unfortunately, human beings are one of the few animal species that do not produce their own antioxidants. That is why we depend so much on our diet for our source of antioxidants. 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.