Free radicals are produced in our bodies as a necessary by-product of life processes. A main site of free-radical production is in cell structures known as mitochondria, which serve as the cells' power plants by taking the energy derived from the breakdown of the food we eat and converting it into energy that the cell can use to do its work . . . The accumulation of damaged proteins contributes to cataracts, muscle deterioration and memory loss. Our bodies can repair much of this damage. We have powerful enzymatic mechanisms to detoxify them.
Many antioxidants come from the diet.
Unfortunately our ability to repair free-radical damage decreases with age, and we make more free radicals as we age. Thus, the damage accumulates. For this reason, the consumption of antioxidants in the diet becomes increasingly important as we grow older. But you may not have heard much about lycopene. Both lycopene and beta-carotene are members of a family of plant pigments called carotenoids.