Antioxidants-An Extreme Health Complement to Your Body's ORAC Needs

by Extreme Health Inc

Perhaps there is no greater investment in maintaining a youthful body and anti-aging vitality than the consumption of antioxidants. Oxygen is a life-giving and life-sustaining property allowing for the proliferation of existence on this planet. Yet, oxygen also has an oxidative (rusting) effect on our bodies, and it is this rusting that results from unstable molecules that is at the heart of premature aging. Once oxidation occurs some studies indicate that poor health can result anywhere in the body.

Antioxidants are theorized to interact with and stabilize unstable molecules known as free radicals. A single free radical can cause damage to millions of other molecules in your body, setting off a chain-reaction of internal damage. Free radicals assault cells, have been linked by studies to a host of different chronic conditions* and generally may prevent your body from proper functioning. This pillaging action can negatively affect tissues, large enzyme complexes which help to regulate your metabolism, vitamin C, and DNA that holds genetic instructions for cellular development and is responsible for inherited traits, from hair color to disease susceptibility.

Antioxidants are substances that can protect cells from the accelerating aging process of damage caused by free radicals; they also stimulate the immune system's response to help fight disease. Considerable evidence from a variety of studies indicates that there is a positive link between longevity and antioxidants in the body*. The higher the levels of antioxidants, the longer a person can be expected to live – just that simple!

The Gold Standard for measuring antioxidant capability or protection is the ORAC unit, which translates into oxygen radical absorbance capacity, and cannot be measured by scanners! The ORAC unit of measure - developed by Tufts University , Brunswick Laboratory, and the USDA - is the ability of a nutrient to stabilize and neutralize the harmful effects of free radical damage. It was determined that the body requires between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units per day to functionally counteract the effects of free radicalization.

Some companies boast about the “science” of measuring certain color molecules like carotenoids, using scanners which absorb certain light wavelengths, and thus use these results as the basis for determining total antioxidant protection. While units of measure called Body Defense Scores that range in the thousands can appear impressive, antioxidants are not just about carotenoids. The body needs a variety of antioxidants derived from a mixture of sources to protect against free radical damage.

Examples of a smorgasbord of antioxidant sources include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, other vitamins, and many minerals such as copper, zinc, selenium, etc. All of these different substances work as a team to neutralize free radicals and pass them out of the body as part of the natural elimination of cellular waste through the kidneys and liver.

Generally, antioxidants are said to help:

• Protect cells from premature, abnormal aging

• Promote the growth of healthy cells

• Destroy the free radicals that damage cells

• Fight age-related macular degeneration

• Provide excellent support for the body's immune system