We are sure you have heard of antioxidants but you may be confused about what they are and why they are so important. Well, antioxidants are the body’s first line of defense against billions of “radical” molecules that bombard us and weaken our bodies every day.

Free radicals are responsible for the effects of aging and development of disease. And don’t let the name fool you; they don’t really want to be free. Free radicals are actually oxygen molecules that are missing an electron.

Do you remember electrons from high school chemistry? It is the effort to find a replacement electron that causes cellular damage that leads to aging and disease.

Antioxidants stabilize crazed free radicals minimizing the damage wreaked on your body; they are the good guys! And you want as many of them in your body as possible to calm down those free radicals keeping you youthful and healthy.

So where do you get antioxidants?

The good news is that there are a whole host of antioxidant vitamins, minerals and food substances. Among the most powerful are:

the vitamins A, C and E, the minerals selenium and zinc, and an impressive list of others, including policosanol, lycopene, Bilberry extract, tea polysaccharides, and green tea.

You can get plenty of antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E) from fruits and veggies, especially green veggies and citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits. Nuts, seeds, tuna, flounder, and poultry are good sources of selenium and zinc.

Now what about these other antioxidants with the not-so-familiar names? What is policosanol or lycopene, for example? Well, policosanol is an ingredient in the outer wax of sugar cane that just happens to have super antioxidant powers. Perhaps its biggest claim to fame is its ability to reduce “bad cholesterol.”

Lycopene is a substance in plants; particularly red ones like tomatoes and it is well known for its cancer-fighting benefits. It’s also found in other reddish fruits, like watermelon, pink grapefruit, rosehips, guava… you get the idea!

Another powerful antioxidant is one extracted from bilberries, which are something like blueberries and blackberries. This one, as you’ve probably guessed, is called bilberry extract and it’s especially effective in fighting an eye disease called macular degeneration.

Have you heard that tea is really good for you? Well, that’s because tea polysaccharides (a fancy name for the carbohydrates in tea leaves) and green tea are also great free radical scavengers.

Tea polysaccharides can keep your cardiovascular system and pancreas working so you won’t get heart disease or diabetes. Green tea has huge benefits (there isn’t enough space here to talk about all of them) but the main thing you need to know is that it’s absolutely loaded with healthy plant compounds called polyphenols that provide a host of benefits throughout the body.

Green tea is an antioxidant, and like all good antioxidants, it is thought to protect the stomach, colon, breast, prostate, skin and cardiovascular system from cancer and other diseases.

So you’ve probably already identified that each antioxidant has its own benefits, even though they all do basically the same thing – stabilize those pesky free radicals. And, by now you are probably wondering how you can get all of these wonderful antioxidant-packed foods into your diet every day.

With enough time and planning, you could probably get most of them. We say “most” because unfortunately, today our produce doesn’t have the same amount of antioxidants and other powerful nutrients as it had a couple of decades ago; but this doesn’t mean that including five to nine servings of different fresh fruits and vegetables a day shouldn’t be your goal to pack up your body with the free radical scavengers.

Featured Antioxidant Product

How can you get the maximum amount of powerful antioxidants every day? Even though our number one advice is to eat 5 to 9 servings of vine-ripe fruits and vegetables a day we understand that most people find it difficult to do.

If you are one of those people we’d like to let you know that the same natural formula we mentioned in our last email and, which has key anti-cancer promoters also contains more than twenty potent antioxidants.

If you are interested in helping your body defend itself from disease and premature aging take a look at this supplement by clicking here.

Wishing you all wellness and good health,