Health and Fitness

An anti oxidant is defined as a molecule that can either prevent or slow down the process of oxidation.

The oxidative process generates free radicals, free radicals can have a very detremental effect on your health and are responsible for several diseases.

Free radicals inside any cell can slow down its growth and will eventually make the cell die.  Antioxidants prevent the natural aging process of our body, because they antagonize the oxidative process. These qualities help antioxidants fight disease.

The Human brain is very susceptible to damage by the free radicals that are generated by oxidative procedures because of its high level of metabolic reactions and increased levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Doctors prescribe various forms of antioxidants to treat different forms of brain injury.

All exercise produces an amount of free radicals. So anyone undertaking physical activity requires supplementation of antioxidants.

Dietry Sources of Antioxidants

The most powerful dietry antioxidants include – Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Glutathione, Melatonin, Selenium, Molybdenum etc.

There are some naturally occurring antioxidants found within the human body – ALC (Acetyl L Carnitine) and ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid).  Both of them are part of Omega-3 fatty acid group. Omega-3 fatty acids are well known to be a potent antioxidant.

Foods that contain are larger amount of antioxidants are – broccoli, cabbage, spinach, yeast, beef besides the heart and kidney as well as dairy products.

What Vitamin E Does and why you need it. 

Tocopherols are naturally occurring fat soluble compounds. Vitamin E is the generic name given to these and some other closely related compounds. Biologically the most potent among these is the alpha-tocopherol. Vitamin E is widely available in foods. It is a good antioxidant that helps in slowing down the aging process. It acts like a scavenger in our body. It picks up the free radicals that are responsible for various diseases.

Sources of vitamin E

The richest sources of vitamin E are vegetable oils, sunflower seeds, cotton seeds, butter and egg yolk. Vitamin E is also present in those foods that are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

Requirement of vitamin E

In adults, the plasma level of vitamin E that should be usually present is between 0.8 and 1.4 mg per 100 ml. About 0.8 mg of vitamin E per 1 gm of essential fatty acids are required for our body.

Deficiency of vitamin E

Undoubtedly, man requires vitamin E in his diet. But there is no indication of any dietary deficiency that can be seen specifically. At the molecular level, the role of vitamin E is little understood. In recent times, the cytotoxic effect of vitamin E at high concentrations on human lymphocytes in vitro has been reported. So keeping these in mind, one should be cautious enough against the excessive consumption of vitamin E.

Antioxidants you need them! 

By definition, an anti oxidant is a molecule that can either prevent or slow down the process of oxidation. Oxidative processes can generate free radicals that are notorious to health.

An accumulation of these free radicals inside any cell can slow down its growth markedly and eventually make the cell die. By antagonizing the oxidative process, an antioxidant prevents the natural aging process of our body. It also helps to treat some disease processes.

The Human brain is extremely susceptible to the free radicals generated by oxidative procedures owing to its high level of metabolic reactions and increased level of polyunsaturated fatty acids. This is why; doctors prescribe various forms of antioxidants to treat different forms of brain injury.

Any type of exercise produces an amount of free radicals. So athletes and other sportspersons require supplementation of antioxidants.

Different types of antioxidants include – Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Glutathione, Melatonin, Selenium, Molybdenum etc.

There are some naturally occurring antioxidants found in our body – ALC (Acetyl L Carnitine) and ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid).  Both of them are part of Omega-3 fatty acid group. Omega-3 fatty acids are well recognized as a potent antioxidant.

Foods that contain enough amounts of antioxidants are – broccoli, cabbage, spinach, yeast, beef besides the heart and kidney or dairy products.

 Vitamin C/Ascorbic Acid

Vitamin C is a water soluble Vitamin. Many mammals can produce their own Vitamin C but you cannot, humans don’t have the ability to make their own vitamin C they need to consume foods which contain it.

Why do you need VitaminC?

Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid (if your a scientist) is a very important vitamin its required for the synthesis of something called collagen, an important structural component of blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and bone. It also plays an important role in your bodies synphesis of something called norepinephrine a neurotransmitter.

Vitamin C can help you lose fat

Vitamin C plays a role in synthesis of something called carnitine, a small molecule that is essential for the transport of fat to cellular organelles called mitochondria, for conversion to energy.

Vitamin C is also a very powerful Antixodant that can help stop you getting heart disease, cancer and scurvy.

A well known and popular source of Vitamin C is Oranges, Oranges taste nice but what other sources of Vitamin C are there?

Here’s a list of other sources and how much Vitamin C in Miligrams

Red Pepper 224 Miligrams of Vitamin C

50g of Strawberries 40 Miligrams of Vitamin C

Kiwi Fruit 40 Miligrams of Vitamin C

Too much Vitamin C however can give you a bad belly but you’d have to eat 4 Red Peppers for that.