{"id":412,"date":"2020-05-01T07:35:50","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T07:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xalient.in\/2d\/?p=412"},"modified":"2020-08-08T05:07:06","modified_gmt":"2020-08-08T05:07:06","slug":"what-are-antioxidants-and-how-they-protect-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2dpoint.net\/what-are-antioxidants-and-how-they-protect-us\/","title":{"rendered":"What are antioxidants and how they protect us?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

When we eat a meal, carbohydrates get broken down into glucose.<\/li>\n
Glucose mixes with oxygen inside the body and produces carbon dioxide, water and energy.<\/li>\n
But energy in this form is not of much use to the human body – the body has to convert it into something that its system can use.<\/li>\n
The format of energy that the body understands is ATP (short for Adenosine TriPhosphate).<\/li>\n
There are small bags inside the human cell called Mitochondria, which exchange random energy for ATP but every time they convert, they produce \u2018free radicals\u2019.<\/li>\n
Now all matter, including a free radical, is made up of atoms and atoms have even smaller particles in them: neutrons, protons & electrons.<\/li>\n
Electrons in stable things usually occur in pairs of 2, 4, 6 etc. and elements that don\u2019t have electrons in pairs are unstable and highly reactive.<\/li>\n
And in free radicals electrons are unpaired, so it snatches the electron from another molecule inside the body to gain stability.<\/li>\n
It is like that child in a playroom who doesn\u2019t have a toy and he snatches it from the next guy, who then snatches the toy off the next guy creating a chain reaction.<\/li>\n
This chain reaction, inside the body creates a toxic environment and is called oxidative stress (from oxidation<\/em>, which means loss of electrons).<\/li>\n
Oxidative stress, if not controlled, can be very harmful and many diseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes etc. are attributed to it.<\/li>\n
Fortunately, our cells also have anti-oxidants i.e. molecules which have the \u2018godly\u2019 ability to donate electrons but still remain stable.<\/li>\n
But these anti-oxidants are enough only to manage free radicals that get generated through natural body processes.<\/li>\n
However, free radicals can also be created in excess amounts by exposure to environmental stresses like smoking, sun exposure, pollution, pesticides, alcohol and fried food.<\/li>\n
There are some foods which are considered rich in antioxidants and because we can\u2019t always escape external stress, these foods can help us fight extra free radicals and improve health.<\/li>\n
These foods include raw fruits & vegetables, almonds, sunflower seeds, virgin olive oils<\/a> etc.; exercising (in the long-term) also generates antioxidants<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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