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What are antioxidants?

Florian Fermin
Florian Fermin

I often heard people talk about antioxidants, but I never knew exactly what they were talking about. I always wondered are antioxidants present in food? Are they important for your skin or for your resistance and what exactly are antioxidants? I've been looking into this for you, so if you're curious about what antioxidants are, this blog is for you.

What are antioxidants?

Antioxidants is a collective term for all soldiers in your body. All substances that protect you against diseases and free radicals. Examples of these soldiers are vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and other bioactive substances< /a>. These substances capture and fight the sometimes dangerous free radicals. When the antioxidants don't do their job properly, these free radicals can damage your cells and tissues. In the long term, this damage can be the cause of cancer and various cardiac and vascular diseases.

Antioxidant function

The effect of antioxidants takes place after you have exercised hard, you have been exposed to air pollution or excessive UV radiation. Then there are excessive free radicals. A little of these radicals is fine. Among other things, they ensure that bacteria are killed. But when your body makes too much of them and they start doing damage to your cells and tissues. Your antioxidants trap these excess free radicals and the antioxidants help your immune system.

Antioxidant food

Which foods contain antioxidants? This is a long list, but here are some products that are high in antioxidants sit.

1. Berries

Blackberries, goji berries, strawberries and raspberries are all very high in antioxidants.

2. Coffee and tea

Coffee is the most antioxidant-rich drink of any drink in the world! Also in various teas, mainly black and green, there are many antioxidants present. Order coffee full of antioxidants here.

3. Cocoa

Dark chocolate also contains many antioxidants. The higher the percentage of cocoa the better.

4. Tomatoes

There are many antioxidants in fresh tomatoes as well as sun-dried tomatoes and tomato sauces. It appears that when the tomatoes are heated, as with sun-dried tomatoes and tomato sauces, the antioxidants are absorbed more easily by your body.

5. Red wine

Yep, here it is. The reason why many people think that red wine is healthy and you should drink a glass of it a day. The antioxidants from the grape skins end up in the wine. Since red wine lasts longer, it contains more antioxidants.

6. Whole wheat bread

One of the reasons whole wheat bread is better than white bread is because it contains more antioxidants. Buckwheat, millet and barley flour in particular are full of antioxidants.

Supplement antioxidants

As you can see, many products that you may eat daily already contain a lot of antioxidants. Is it still necessary to supplement this? Nope. With your normal diet you get enough antioxidants. There are even studies that found an increase in the risk of cancer in people who supplemented with antioxidants. These studies found that people who took the antioxidant supplement beta-carotene had an increased risk of lung and gastrointestinal cancer. Thus, do not supplement antioxidants.