Certain vitamins, minerals and carotenoids are called antioxidants because they are believed to protect the body against disease-causing substances called free radicals. Free radicals can also be produced by environmental factors, such as cigarette smoke, burns and ultraviolet light.
Free radicals are desperate to pair up with electrons of other molecules.
In doing so, they damage body cells and tissues, as well as the DNA, which is your body's master plan for cell reproduction. Antioxidants pair up with these free radicals, rendering them harmless waste products that get eliminated before any damage can be done. Antioxidants may even help undo some of the damage that was already done. Each antioxidant has its own job. See the chart below for more info.