Fighting Free Radicals with Antioxidant Resveratrol
The new buzzword in the nutritional supplement industry is resveratrol and for good reasons, too. Even the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Oz have taken notice of its benefits that range from lowered blood sugar levels to reduced risks for heart disease to improved immune system against diseases as serious as cancer. And the power behind these benefits lies in the fact that resveratrol is an antioxidant that fights the damaging effects of free radicals. For those who have yet to hear, much less understand, the relationship between free radicals and the antioxidant resveratrol, this article is for you.
Free Radicals and Antioxidants Explained
Free radicals are organic molecules that are responsible for tissue damage, physical ageing and even some forms of diseases. You can think of them as free molecules with an odd number of electrons floating around until they can be stabilized, of which stealing electrons from other molecules will do for them. Once they steal the electrons, cellular damage ensues. The worst part is that the molecule from which the electron was stolen from in the first place can become a free radical itself. And so the damage replicates itself over and over again.
Fortunately, antioxidants can counter the effects of free radicals by stopping the electron-stealing process in its tracks. The antioxidants present in your body donate one of their own electrons to the hungry free radicals without turning into the enemy precisely because they are stable molecules to begin with.
You can find antioxidants in fresh produce like fruits and vegetables, of which vitamins like A, C and E as well as beta-carotene are the most popular. And of course, let us not forget the antioxidant resveratrol that is gaining increasing positive attention from the health nuts amongst us. (And speaking of nuts, peanuts are a rich source of resveratrol)
Ways that Resveratrol Fights Free Radicals
As previously implied, resveratrol fights free radicals by providing one of its own electrons to the scavenging free radicals without losing its stable form. As such, many health benefits have been attributed to the regular consumption of resveratrol in the diet as well as in supplements. Of course, you can eat your daily needs for resveratrol but you have to eat baskets of fruits and vegetables or drink hundreds of bottles each day to get the necessary dosage present in one capsule of resveratrol supplement. Can you do it, much less afford to do it? You decide.
Research has proven that the superior antioxidant resveratrol provides for many benefits that include but are not certainly limited to the following:
- Protect against certain cancers like pancreatic cancer due to a strengthened immune system
- Prevent the early onset of the signs of ageing from its physical to its mental forms especially where age-related mental disorders like Alzheimer’s disease are concerned
- Perils of a high-calorie diet are avoided, thus, resulting to increased insulin sensitivity and improved motor function
If these sound Greek to you, well, think of resveratrol as an antioxidant capable of improving your quality of life by ensuring that your body performs at peak levels, no matter your age. With the antioxidant resveratrol, you lose nothing by way of health although you do lose free radicals that make for ill health. Not bad for something that comes in a convenient capsule form
