How To Use Natural Antioxidants To Your Advantage

What Antioxidants Do

Oxygen is vital to our everyday lives.  Without oxygen, we will die.  Period.  However, oxygen is not always our friend.  During the process of cellular respiration, when cells receive the oxygen and produce the energy they need, free radicals are produced.  While free radicals are not in and of themselves bad, too many free radicals can lead to a number of problems. 

Antioxidants fight against the overproduction of free radicals, and keeping a balance of free radicals and antioxidants in your body is vital.  Natural antioxidants can often be better for us than other forms of antioxidants.

Using Natural Antioxidants

Before we discuss the use of natural antioxidants for our health, we should understand the difference between natural antioxidants and unnatural antioxidants.  Essentially, natural antioxidants come from natural sources, while unnatural antioxidants are chemically synthesized in order to produce various synthetic antioxidant supplements.

Natural antioxidants can be entered into the system in two ways.  The first is through our diet.  There are many foods that can provide us with antioxidants.  This is the best source of natural antioxidants.  Antioxidants food are easier for us to absorb into our system and generally work better in our bodies.

We can also get natural antioxidants from natural antioxidant supplements.  These are supplements where antioxidants have been extracted from natural sources, rather than synthetically derived from chemical bases.

Getting the Most Out of Natural Antioxidants

There are many foods that prove to be excellent sources of natural antioxidants.  The foods that contain the highest numbers of antioxidants include a wide variety of beans and berries: red beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and so on.  Antioxidants can also be found in many dark green vegetables (e.g. spinach), and also deep red, orange and yellow vegetables (such as peppers, carrots, etc.).

When looking at natural antioxidant supplements, it is generally recommended that you find liquid based supplements.  We are better able to absorb nutrients from liquid based supplements, and it is easier to find natural antioxidants in liquid based supplements.

Before beginning any major supplementation program, however, it is a good idea to discuss the issue with your doctor or a health professional first.  While too many free radicals can be very dangerous to your health, too many antioxidants can also throw your body off-balance as well.  Remember balance is the key, there can be too much of a good thing.