Anti-Oxidants – what are they & how do they work to save your skin?
Antioxidants are the substances you need to protect yourself from free-radical damage. The best way to get your anti-oxidants is to eat them. Since you really “are what you eat”, the right foods supply lots of free radical fighters. To learn how both work, you need to know: what are free radicals?
These bad molecules can be a byproduct of normal metabolism. Free radical damage can also be caused by exposure to pollutants in your environment, food, or drink. Since your skin is the barrier between you & the outside world it gets exposed to all kinds of threats throughout the day that it fends off. Everyone is exposed to free radicals as a part of daily life, so it’s important to know what they do and how you can minimize their effects on you.
READ MORE: Benefits of Beans – A Natural Fat Burner!
Free radicals are formed when a molecule has an unpaired electron and becomes unstable. When a molecule is unstable, it will steal an electron from the nearest item it encounters. (usually a cell in your body) Then, the molecule that was robbed becomes a free radical itself, scavenging for a spare electron to use so that it will be stable again. They can damage almost anything they come into contact with, which is why the immune system sometimes creates them and uses them as a weapon against invaders it deems harmful. Because free radicals can create chain reactions by stealing electrons from the molecules that make up your cells, they can cause inflammation, cell damage, and signs of early aging. It’s in your best interest to fight free radicals with antioxidants.
