These molecules natural products of the aging process are each missing an electron, so they go around trying to steal electrons from molecules in healthy cells. When they succeed, the cell that was robbed is damaged or even dies. In some cells, the genetic material that tells them how to duplicate themselves is damaged. That s when cancerous changes begin. Enter antioxidants .
Antioxidants donate their own electrons to the free radicals and help prevent damage to cells.
Vitamins C and E, selenium , and carotene are all antioxidants , and studies have shown that they all help to prevent cancer. Initial studies of the supplement forms of these nutrients suggest, however, that vitamin E has the strongest cancer-preventing potential. Researchers at Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey, compared vitamin E levels in the blood of 100 breast cancer patients and 70 healthy women. They found that the levels were much lower in women with breast cancer than in the healthy women. Vitamin E often gets top billing among antioxidants , but other supplements are effective, too.