Antioxidants Antioxidants are a group of nutrients crucial to health and well being. Their value has been confirmed by a great deal of research over the last 25 years. But public awareness of antioxidants is more recent, dating from the mid-1990s, so many people are unclear how antioxidants help prevent degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, osteoarthritis, and cataracts. Your normal metabolic processes release some free radicals, but your body repairs most of the oxidative damage these natural free radicals cause. However, if you flood your bloodstream with an unusually large number of free radicals by smoking or by eating a high fat diet over time, oxidative damage can overwhelm the body's repair mechanisms, setting you up for degenerative diseases.
Antioxidants prevent oxidative damage by donating electrons to free radicals.
Because of all the vitamin deficiencies across the country, folic acid is the most common. Part of the B vitamin complex, it does some incredible things like helping to build your muscles, keeping your body strong, and helping to prevent heart attacks, cancer, and even birth defects. Folic acid is essential for the proper development and division of red blood cells, for the creation of RNA and DNA, as well as for protein synthesis. Also known as vitamin B-9, folate, folacin, and pteroryglutamic acid, folic acid is a water soluble vitamin that must be obtained through your diet. Some foods rich in folic acid are beans, brewer's yeast, egg yolks, green leafy vegetables like spinach, liver, nuts, rice, and oranges.