The magic prefix "antioxidants" helps to sell face creams, vitamins, food. Is should put all your strength into fighting free radicals, or can leave them alone? If you are looking with a magnifying glass in which foods antioxidants are present in a larger volume, it may be worthwhile to first find out the alternative opinion of scientists. It turns out that not everything is so simple with these "useful" antioxidants and "harmful" radicals.
- What are free radicals and antioxidants
- 3 unexpected facts about antioxidants you need to know
- What foods are antioxidants present in and why include them in the diet
What are free radicals and antioxidants
In energy processes are going on all the time in our body, in the course of which radicals are formed — molecules with one free electron. According to all the laws of chemistry, this electron will look for a mate — one more electron, which it will attach to itself, taking it from a nearby molecule. What kind of molecule will it be: DNA, protein, or "brick" cell membrane does not matter, free radicals damage the structure of any cell. This process is called oxidative stress.
Antioxidants — substances that can "share" with one electron, stabilizing the free radical and stopping the chain of damage. They are produced in the body in response to the appearance of free radicals. That is normal this whole process is controlled and free radicals can cause no particular harm, although their role in the aging process is still in question.
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3 unexpected facts about antioxidants you need to know
If the body regulates everything by itself, then where did the opinion about the need to interfere in oxidation processes come from? Why did research begin on the topic: which foods contain more antioxidants and how can synthesize them? It turns out that harmful factors (smoking, stress, poor ecology) contribute to the production of many free radicals and it is already difficult for the body to cope with all of them. This is where help and they should — antioxidants. But the more scientists do research on this topic, the more doubts they have. To be convinced of the ambiguous benefits of antioxidants, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the following facts.
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Free radicals are needed by the body. The point is that by damaging the cell, free radicals trigger immune processes, which in turn lead either to repair of the cell or to apoptosis — programmed cell death. Note that we are talking about any cell, and malignant including No free radicals — no signal to the immune system about damage — apoptosis does not start
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Antioxidant intake can complicate the course of disease. The immune system fights viruses and bacteria in many ways, one of — destruction of the "outsider" ...free radicals. And now imagine that the free radical is neutralized by the antioxidant without having time to damage the cell of the pathogen — little what what we want is isn isn
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Antioxidants reduce the benefits of training. Strength and cardio exercises lead to the formation of free radicals in the muscles, to neutralize which the body produces its own antioxidants and other substances that create a positive effect of training. Loading doses of vitamins and dietary supplements containing synthetic antioxidants lead to the complete neutralization of radicals, a decrease in sensitivity to insulin, which negates the entire effect of exercise.
Some studies have shown that taking in excess of antioxidants can be detrimental to the body, as it completely turns off the immune defenses. The role of free radicals in the formation of the immune response is not yet fully understood, but the fact that they are needed for the normal course of certain processes — fact.
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What foods are antioxidants present in and why include them in the diet
So maybe it's not worth fighting free radicals, since they are so useful? Loading doses of vitamins and supplements, yes, not worth it. Roughly interfering in & nbsp; the fine chemistry of biological processes is generally not necessary once again. But we do need antioxidants, and we really don't get enough of them. This is because vegetables, berries and fruits are rapidly disappearing from the diet, namely — natural, natural source of antioxidants. As it turned out, numerous studies have revealed to us a simple and banal thing — eat more plant foods.
How to optimize your diet, and what foods contain antioxidants in required amounts? There is no single answer, since different vitamins and substances are able to bind free radicals. And they are not interchangeable, so, for example, vitamin C will not replace vitamin E, although both are strong antioxidants. It remains only to adhere to the rule that we know from school — 5 different vegetables or fruits a day and you will be healthy.
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