Antioxidant Supplement

Research on antioxidant supplements now days is focused on how they might help to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. There is strong potential for vitamins C, E and A (beta-carotene) to promote good health. But the information that is available regarding the health benefits of antioxidant supplements is as yet incomplete. The percentage of Americans who take antioxidant supplements in some form is only about 30%.

Antioxidants: Just what are they and what is their importance?

There are two forms of antioxidants: vitamins and minerals. They aid in the prevention of the reaction of oxygen with chemicals in the cells. These reactions are called oxidation and can often cause damage to cells that leads to such conditions as cancer and heart disease and many others.

A number of foods contain antioxidants but the richest sources are fresh fruits and vegetables. You would be a lot healthier and have fewer free radicals, which are cell damaging molecules, if you get high amounts of antioxidants into your body through a diet that included a lot of fresh produce.

Antioxidants work by destroying or breaking the chain reactions of free radicals. Free radicals cause problems in your body because they are very unstable and they attempt to steal electrons from molecules that are stable, causing them to become unstable and repeating the process. This chain reaction will continue unless it is stopped somehow. Breaking this chain reaction and neutralizing free radicals is what antioxidants do. This is why antioxidants are such a benefit to you.

When antioxidants neutralize free radicals, they also become neutralized. So they also oxidize. To continue fighting free radicals, a continual source of antioxidants is necessary for your body or the free radicals will continue to multiply and cause chain reactions to occur.

We usually do not get enough antioxidants from our food now days because of the kind of diets we are prone to have. We need to keep in mind that we need to get a continual supply of antioxidants and this is the role of antioxidant supplements.

Another form of antioxidants is necessary because we usually don't eat enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis to get enough antioxidants from food. Antioxidant supplements are the form often used to get this additional source.

As a source of antioxidants, supplements should not be expected to completely replace natural, dietary antioxidants but they can help increase the body's level of antioxidants. Consider your need for more antioxidants when you think about supplements.