The Importance Of Antioxidants In Cleansing Your Body

Fasting and Cleansing: Antioxidants

More and more, we are hearing about two things to help our health and well-being. One is body cleansing and the other is the taking of antioxidant supplements. However, there is a possibility that these two seemingly unrelated topics are actually closely linked.

Antioxidants are:
Substances that can counteract damaging effects of oxidation in tissue.

Oxidation is a completely normal occurrence in tissue, but something called oxidative stress begins when free-radical production goes beyond the antioxidants capability to defend the tissue.

Free-radicals are:
Atoms and molecule fragments that are chemically active. Free-radicals are charged due to the fact that they have a deficient or an excess number of electrons.

There is no way to avoid free-radicals completely. They can come from sources both inside and outside the body. Processes within our bodies like respiration, metabolism and inflammation can cause free-radical production. Our environment can introduce free-radicals into our bodies, as well. Pollution, sunlight, smoking, drinking, x-rays and hard exercise are some environmental factors that can result in free-radicals.

These free-radicals attack your body everyday. They can damage healthy body cells if allowed to accumulate. Many health care professionals feel that they can be considered major risk factors in several health problems like:

1 - cancer
2 - heart disease
3 - aging
4 - atherosclerosis
5 - Alzheimer's disease
6 - cataracts
7 - and many more!

Antioxidants, therefore, can be considered a natural way to cleanse the body. They can counteract the damaging effects these free radicals have on the body and improve your overall health! This occurs two different ways:

1. By breaking the chain of free-radical production - since free-radicals steal electrons from other molecules, it is actually producing two free-radical molecules. This chain can be broken by stabilizing antioxidants like beta-carotene.

2. By preventing free-radicals from forming at all - Antioxidant enzymes like catalase can actually prevent oxidation. This stops free-radical production in its tracks.

There are many antioxidants found in a normal diet and on supplement shelves. Some that you have probably heard a lot about are:

Vitamin C - This well-known, highly used antioxidant can be found in abundance in many different fruits and vegetables. It is also in many cereals, meats, poultry and fish products.

Vitamin E - This antioxidant is found in many oils, like corn, sunflower and soybean oils.

Vitamin A - This antioxidant (which has three forms) is found in many foods like sweet potatoes, liver, carrots and dairy products like milk and mozzarella cheese.

Bata-Carotene - This antioxidant is found in many foods that are orange in color: Carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, mangos, pumpkins and squash. Some leafy greens are also good sources of bata-carotene.

Lutein - This antioxidant, associated with good eye health, can be found in many leafy greens like spinach, kale and collard greens.
Lycopene - This antioxidant is very potent, and can be found in foods like tomatoes, watermelon, apricots, pink grapefruit, papaya, and guava.

Getting enough of these various antioxidants can allow natural body cleansing to occur. However, you can get too much of a good thing. Before beginning any regimen of antioxidant supplement, talk to your health care professional.

You owe it to yourself to learn more about this exciting and new common sense approach to healthy weight loss. If you are tired of all the bologna flying around these days on weight loss and diets and have tried many things without much or any success, I invite you to visit my website for more information on this awesome concept that is literally transforming thousands of lives. I wish you all the best of success and health in your life.

Sincerely,
Stace Zimmerman

Stace Zimmerman is an Independent Isagenix Associate freeinfo.isagenix.com who owns & maintains his health & wellness website www.burnfatbycleansing.com . He is the author of numerous articles on health, nutrition & weight loss. Check out his site for lots more information on healthy weight loss through natural body cleansing.