Did you know the cancer rate is around 442 for every 100,000 women and men each year? Plus, 6.8 million in the U.K. alone suffer from cardiovascular disease.
It's something you must pay attention to.
Heart disease and cancer can significantly shorten your lifespan and decrease the quality of your life. While you can undergo many preventative measures, like looking after your diet and exercise, one compound you'll want to consume is antioxidants.
They're powerful, packed with health benefits and can be life-changing.
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants are powerful molecules, compounds found in your body and food. They help protect the cells in your body by neutralizing harmful chemicals (oxidative stress) known as free radicals. Basically, antioxidants act as bodyguards protecting healthy cells from attacks and allowing your body to perform at its best.
There are many different types of antioxidants, the main ones being:
- Vitamins: Found in vitamins C and E.
- Minerals: Found in zinc and selenium.
- Phytochemicals: Found in fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and wholegrain plants.
- Coffee and tea
More about free radicals
Free Radicals are created as a by product of your metabolism and as a result of sun exposure, exercise, cigarette smoke and pollutants. These free radicals cause oxidative stress damaging your cells, proteins and DNA. It's thought that oxidative stress can contribute to diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, Parkinson's disease and more. Antioxidants reduce the risk of these cells damaging your body and are certain compounds you don't want to ignore.
5 ways antioxidants are power packed
Antioxidants offer a lot of benefits, such as:
Protects against heart disease
Antioxidants can lower your risk of heart disease by reducing oxidative stress and limiting damage to your blood vessels and tissues. They also have strong anti-inflammatory effects stopping the excess production of anti-inflammatory molecules for enzymes and protecting your inflammatory processes. Plus, there are some antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, which can lower blood pressure, reducing the risk of oxidative stress and hypertension.
Reduces the risk of cancer
It's believed that antioxidants like vitamins A, C and E can reduce your cancer risk. However, there needs to be more evidence to support this. Some antioxidants contain anti-cancer properties that can stop the growth and spread of certain cancer cells.
In particular, there are phytochemicals found in vegetables, fruits and herbs which have slowed down tumour growth and killed some cancer cells. Similarly, there's research which shows the antioxidant selenium may help people to reduce their skin cancer risk. Plus, chronic inflammation is highly linked to DNA damage, cell growth, and blood vessels forming tumours. Antioxidants help modulate inflammatory molecules and enzymes, reducing your risk of cancer.
Note: While there's a lot of growing research to support the role of antioxidants in reducing your cancer risk, there are also other factors to take into account. Certain effects like the type of antioxidant, dosage, type of cancer, characteristics, diet and lifestyle may cause different outcomes.
Slows down the ageing process
These compounds help neutralize free radicals, reducing inflammation and cell damage and slowing ageing. Antioxidants also help protect your DNA from oxidative damage, stopping the risk of your cells from mutating and helping slow down ageing. Alongside this, chronic inflammation is associated with many age-related diseases and increases the ageing process. Antioxidants contain a lot of anti-inflammatory properties, helping reduce the inflammation of molecules, and slowing down degenerative processes.
Boosts brain function
As you age, the nerve cells in your brain struggle to protect themselves against free radicals. Exposure to rogue compounds, pollution, tobacco smoke and sunlight makes you more likely to be exposed to more free radicals over time. Thankfully with antioxidants, they help protect your brain from oxidative stress, allowing it to function better. If you want to have better brain health, there are several antioxidants you might want to consider eating more of
Flavonoids - These are known to be beneficial for your memory. You can find flavonoids in berries, leafy greens, coffee, dark chocolate, red wine, butternut squash, red grapes and red wine.
Vitamin E - Vitamin E is thought to fight cognitive decline and reduce the likelihood of age-related degenerative conditions. You can find vitamin E in fish, nuts, seeds and fruit.
Curcumin - Curcumin is found in turmeric and is thought to help elevate mood and memory.
Lutein - Lutein is believed to fight your brain's grey matter and enhance your health. Lutein is found in eggs, fruit, leafy greens and veggies.
Helps with mental health
Growing research supports a connection between oxidative stress, antioxidant defence system and mood disorders. Some researchers believe that there may be possibilities to reduce depression and anxiety by eating foods high in antioxidants. One study found significantly low levels of Vitamins A, C E in people with depression and anxiety. After 6 weeks of antioxidants, their symptoms of depression and anxiety were significantly reduced.
Final Thoughts
Overall, antioxidants have a lot of benefits to your overall health and well-being. Some of the main benefits are that they can neutralize free radicals and significantly reduce oxidative stress, reducing your risk of cancers, and heart disease, slowing the ageing process and boosting your brain.
Antioxidants are completely natural and readily available to obtain. You can easily get them through a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and more. Combining an antioxidant-rich lifestyle with healthy habits can pave your path towards a thriving and happy life.
Start consuming more antioxidants and notices the differences in your skin, cognitive function and overall well-being.