How Can Antioxidants Supplement Your Diet?
 By now, we know that it is important eat foods rich in antioxidants. But why? What can antioxidants do to supplement our diets? While you may have heard that you should be eating certain foods that are reportedly rich in antioxidants, you may not know exactly what antioxidants do or how they can help your body function better and fight disease. Just a few ways that antioxidants can supplement your diet and promote better health and antioxidant nutrition are:
- Fighting free radicals. Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms that are left over when the oxygen in your body interacts with certain molecules. Free radicals are highly reactive atoms that are said to damage cells and possibly cause cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration, and other serious ailments. Flavanoids, or antioxidants that come from plants, safely interact with free radicals and cancel them out before they are able to cause damage. Antioxidants are also believed to change the body’s reaction to carcinogens, allergens, and viruses.
- Regulating blood sugar. Chromium polynicotinate is a mineral that can help regulate blood sugar, a common concern of people at risk for diabetes. This mineral can also promote weight loss and the growth of lean muscle tissue.
- Replenishing the look of healthy skin. Antioxidants found in the Ginkgo Biloba leaf are thought to repair damaged cells (caused by free radicals), and in turn give you a more youthful complexion. These antioxidants also supplement the prevention of certain types of cancer, heart disease, and memory loss.
- Fighting stress and high cholesterol. Naringin is an antioxidant found in citrus fruits and is what gives grapefruit its bitter taste. This antioxidant can lower LDL, or "bad", cholesterol levels as well as alleviate high stress. Stress can cause a number of ailments on its own, and an antioxidant that fights stress is just an added bonus to all the other potential benefits from the antioxidant.
By seeking out foods rich in antioxidants, you can let antioxidants supplement your health with no extra effort other than making good choices in what you eat. Foods that are rich in antioxidants are often brightly colored, like berries, carrots, citrus fruits, and leafy green vegetables. For extra help finding ways to safely supplement your diet with antioxidants and finding the right antioxidant formula for you, talk to your doctor.
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