Antioxidants are known as substances that are heavily associated with oxidation. During this activity, a certain molecule or atom loses some of its electrons due to the effects of a chemical reaction.
Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress
Antioxidants are also known in studies revolving around nutrition. In the concept of a healthy diet, antioxidants are the compounds that are embedded in food that allow the human system to protect the foundational molecules, including the DNA, from particularly damaging activities.
Antioxidants could be found in certain sources such as vitamin C and vitamin E. the substance might also work within trace elements like zinc and selenium. There are also plant compounds that are linked to having antioxidant properties, such as flavonoids and lycopene.
In specialized diet plans, oxidative stress is repelled by food choices that contain antioxidant properties. There are many variants that a person can eat in order to balance and guard the cellular components of our body against oxidative stress, scaling from nuts, vegetables, fruits, and even mushrooms.
Oxidative stress could lead to severe damage in our smallest biological structures. This happens when electrons are removed from biochemical functions that are associated with proteins, ranging from amino acids to genetic codes, ScienceAlert reports.
Changes in DNA, even small, could trigger the base of the component to shift into a different structure and might result in a distinct behavior it is not supposed to undergo. Changing the proteins in our body could also be hard for other functions to break down and might accumulate into what are called toxic clumps.
Oxidation of natural fats of the membranes in cells could also make them stiff and inflexible, which causes them to become less adaptive to their jobs and shorten their life spans.
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Should You Take Antioxidant Supplements
The human body has several solutions that could naturally counter oxidative stress. However, our system ages uncontrollably, and this causes the problems related to oxidation to pile up. As we add years to our age, there are activities that are being disrupted, including protein build aggregations, obstructions in mutation, higher risks of cancer, and the manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.
Even if there are other instances where people get far from the severe dangers of oxidative stress, little impacts of the process could be observed, including the changes in hair color and the wrinkling of the skin.
Free radicals are a type of chemical compound that is produced as an uncontrolled consequence of the body's common metabolic processes. Free radicals include oxygen types like hydrogen peroxide that could be destructive while being a signaling molecule.
Reactive chemical species like free radicals are dealt with enzymes and antioxidant properties. Through the natural anti-oxidation components, the body can check itself for electron loss, replacement of missing electrons, or even clean out the radicals prior to the damage.
Despite having natural antioxidants and enzymes, the human body might need additional sources of these protective measures depending on the situation. But while oxidative stress is a problematic process, adding additional antioxidant supplements to the body does not actually help the systems to reduce the risk of aging and other conditions. The balancing between electron distribution is not possible yet.
A study even emphasized that groups who increased their antioxidant supplement intakes had a different outcome, particularly increasing their mortality rate. Future research will only tell about external factors that could reduce oxidative stress, and why supplements do not work to improve their state.
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