Antioxidants & Health Benefits

Ladies! I can envisage the radiant gleam in your eyes just when you peek at something saying “Forever Young”, even if it’s merely a superficial advertisement promising you numerous breathtaking miraculous revolutions that you actually believe will transform you into Cinderella or might take you back to your alluring teen-years. What a feast to your imagination these commercials are and how proactively you stretch your finances to fit these pricey creams, least bothered about the sticker-shock associated.

For certain, these ads make you believe accordingly but let us not be delusional about what fancies our perception. There is no magic-potion melted down into these beauty products to renovate you from tip to toe. Here, I don’t indeed desire to dampen your spirits but I intend to reveal to you an orchard of Strawberries, Broccoli, Raspberries, Grapes, Apricots and more and more delish delights to actually make you beautiful, truly healthy and young too.

I am thrilled to entitle this healthful orchard “Anti-oxidants”. To many this may be a foreign concept but I don’t want any of you to snore while reading the encyclopedic definition and explanation of what anti-oxidants are and how extraordinarily they exert in our body to wonderfully make us healthy inside and out. Nevertheless, I am a science lover and for the curious ones like me, I have done my research to put down the chemistry of anti-oxidants. To glimpse that excellent work of anti-oxidants, I will publish this article’s sister-article sooner.

What are Antioxidants:

Alright for others, who want to get the upshot and take benefit from them, here’s what you should know first to convince yourself that antioxidants really are needed, just a brief idea at this point, don’t worry. Anti-oxidants are really hardworking chemical laborers inside our bodies that do not allow the damage of cells and tissues. They work at a microscopic level and not just they prevent the damage but they also fix up the already damaged cells. I have a really good analogy to further clarify this concept, which I once read somewhere on the internet while worrying about my own withering skin and health. Each one of us know that when we cut an apple then after a while, while being exposed to oxygen, it turns brown; besides if you put it in some orange juice or lemon juice or anything containing Vitamin C then the browning can be prevented. Same is the way anti-oxidants work where cells can be thought of as apples and antioxidants are the browning-preventers.

Anti-oxidants at work:
All the definitions and chemistry aside, we are anxious to have health, beauty and we want to slow down the age-clock too so let’s now get into the real benefits that anti-oxidants pledge to offer us:

a. Health benefits:
Since they fight against the oxidants and the free-radicals (just know that free-radicals are harmful for health), therefore doctors and health scientists have laid considerable emphasis on an increased intake of foods that are rich in anti-oxidants. Though supplements are available too but they don’t match the food we add to our routine to gain the benefits.

According to Dr. Richard Cutler, former Director of the National Institute of Aging, Washington: “The amount of antioxidants in your body is directly proportional to how long you will live”

Clinical Trials and researches have proved the decreased risk of cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, memory-loss, neurological diseases, sleeplessness, asthma, high blood-pressure etc. but the extended benefits cannot be limited to these few mentioned.

b. Beauty Benefits:
We learnt in school that cells are the basic units of our body. And today we have learnt that oxidants and free radicals are the by-product of the cell activity. If we don’t get our body engaged in a system to kill the oxidants and the free-radicals, they will continue damaging our cells then tissues, organs, systems and afterwards all of this damage will show-up on our skin and face ultimately in the form of paleness, dullness and wrinkles. In the due course, we will look old which is what we don’t desire.

1.  Improved Collagen Production: With the war against the free-radicals, antioxidants slow down the process of aging by allowing the natural production of collagen that maintains the elasticity of our skin.
2. Reduced Appearance of Fine Lines and Wrinkles: Among the inevitable aging process, comes the fine lines and wrinkles that map our age on face and free-radicals aggravate their appearance. Antioxidants don’t guarantee to reverse the damage but they promise the prevention of further damage and slow down aging process enough to make you feel beautiful about yourself.
3. Fading of Age Spots and Brown Spots: Age spots and the brown spots appear due to accelerated production of melanin as a result of over-exposure to the sun. Their appearance can be significantly reduced by detoxification of your system and by that I mean getting your body rich in antioxidants.

Where to get Antioxidants from?

Now that you know adequately about the job and perks of Antioxidants, it’s about time you know the sources from where you can discover these.

Plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals and spices are extremely rich in antioxidants but you need to be careful in choosing; all you need is some time to go grab them rather than wasting your time worrying about deteriorating health and beauty. Below is the list of food items that are loaded with what is needed.

• Fruits: Apricots – Cranberries – Blueberries – Strawberries – Cherries – Plums – Oranges – Prunes – Raisins – Red Grapes

• Vegetables: Beans – Onions – Corns – Eggplant – Red bell peppers – Spinach – Kale – Alfalfa sprouts – Broccoli flowers – Beet

• Nuts: Pecans – Walnuts – Hazelnuts

• Spices:Ground cloves – Cinnamon – Oregano

On a side note, I find it important to mention that it is not solely the anti-oxidants that make you healthy but they are of significant and unavoidable value. What a wonder you can achieve if you just be more conscious and convolve it with an exercise routine.

Now I believe that you understand why I was a little sarcastic about the beauty products; they do care for your skin and you can’t just abandon them but you need to know that the change coming from inside-out is beneficial and long-lived as opposed to the outside-in that’s superficial with no undying gains.

Having taken you away from the pores of your skin to the cells present deep down inside of you, you have now the acquaintance enough to single out what you need for the BEAUTIFUL-HEALTHIER-YOU!

This Article Is Written By “Ghalia Akram” Senior Author At Envirocivil.com

Orginially Published By www.envirocivil.com