These free radicals are of minimum concern if kept at reasonable levels our bodies produce enzymes to combat them, and free radicals are helpful in some body processes. However, cigarette smoke, air pollution, water pollution, fried foods, and toxins also create free radicals. If these excess free radicals attack DNA, which forms the body s genetic code, cancer may occur. If they attack blood vessel cells, it contributes to cardiovascular disease. Free radicals are also implicated in arthritis, strokes, and cataracts.
Antioxidants fight free radicals.
Our bodies contain certain enzymes such as superoxide dismutase that fight free radicals, and we can also get them from the foods we eat. The best known antioxidants are beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and the mineral selenium. Other antioxidants include ginkgo biloba, coenzyme Q10, tocotrienols, and polyphenols, which are substances found in most plants. Health editor James Scheer, writing in Better Nutrition magazine, notes that glutathione peroxidase plays a role in protecting the blood cells, heart, liver, and lungs, and that methionine reductase, although not as well-known as SOD or glutathione peroxidase, helps defeat some particularly dangerous free radicals those created when you are exposed to radiation. Scheer comments that methionine reductase also helps deactivate free radicals created by mercury found in dental fillings.