What Are Antioxidants? 6 Quick Facts About Antioxidant Vitamins

1)  What are antioxidants?

When discussing antioxidants, we mean vitamins C, E, and the provitamin Beta Carotene.

2) Where are antioxidants found?

These nutrients can be found in a wide variety of vitamin supplements and fortified foods. More specifically, Vitamin C is found in grapefruits, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, kale, potatoes and broccoli. Vitamin E is found in leafy greens and nuts. Finally, Beta Carotene is found in collard greens and spinach, as well as other dark green leafy vegetables, and in yellow-orange fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupes and peaches.

Antioxidants in Blueberries

3) What do antioxidants do?

Antioxidant vitamins play an important part in keeping our body safe and healthy. Free radicals, highly-reactive and unstable molecules that may cause cellular damage, threaten our body daily. They are produced naturally within our bodies and can also be produced by air pollution and tobacco smoke. After recent studies and research, it’s now believed that the cellular damage caused by free radicals, in addition to other factors, may lead to the formation of many chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer. Antioxidants are very important because they have the ability to neutralize free radicals and keep our body healthy.

4) What do doctors and other health professionals recommend?

Obviously doctors and healthcare providers recommend regular exercise, checkups on a consistent basis, less fatty foods and salts and no smoking. In addition to these healthy practices, it’s also recommended to eat a balanced diet that contains at least five daily servings of vegetables and fruits rich in antioxidant vitamins.

5) How about vitamin supplements?

Antioxidant vitamins can be found in numerous supplements and food products such as breakfast cereals and juice drinks. Many physicians believe taking supplements or eating fortified foods with vitamins and minerals is important for those who don’t have a particularly good diet or who have special needs. People are also strongly advised to read the nutritional labels.

6) Are there any risks to ingesting antioxidants?

Vitamins C, E and Beta Carotene are officially classified as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). In addition, the vast amount of scientific evidence obtained and gathered over many years supports the safety of antioxidants, even at high levels, but one should always follow label directions.

Need to get more antioxidants into your diet? A supplement might be an option. For example, One-Per-Meal LifeGuard™ is a multi-vitamin and mineral antioxidant supplement formulated for free radical protection and general nutrition needs.

LifeGuard Daily Antioxidant Supplement

Life Priority, established in 1994, offers supplements that are scientifically-formulated, results-oriented, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and are manufactured at USDA and FDA inspected facilities.
*The products and statements made about specific products on this web site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. All information provided on this web site or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this web site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new vitamins, supplements, diet, or exercise program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.
*Any testimonials on this web site are based on individual results and do not constitute a guarantee that you will achieve the same results.

Key Supplements for Better Brain Health: Omega 3, B-Vitamins, and D3

Neurology ® Dec. 28, 2011, DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182436598).

Numerous studies suggest that people with higher intakes of the omega-3 essential fatty acids; vitamins C, D, E, and the B vitamins were less likely to have brain shrinkage. These nutrients have also been associated with higher scores on mental thinking tests.

One particular study involved 104 people with an average age of 87 and very few risk factors for memory and thinking problems. Blood tests were used to determine the levels of various nutrients present in the blood of each participant. All of the participants also took tests of their memory and thinking skills. A total of 42 of the participants had MRI scans to measure their brain volume.

The participants overall had good nutritional status, but 7 percent were deficient in vitamin B12 and 25 percent were deficient in vitamin D.

Physician Pointing at Brain MRI

Previous studies have looked at only one or a few nutrients at a time or have used questionnaires to assess people’s diet. This study was among the first of its type to specifically measure a wide range of blood nutrient levels instead of basing findings on less precise data such as food questionnaires. Questionnaires rely on people’s memory of their diet, and they also do not account for how much of the nutrients are absorbed by the body, which can be an issue in the elderly.

In contrast, the study found people with diets high in trans fats were more likely to have brain shrinkage and lower scores on the thinking and memory tests.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Aging and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Portland VA Medical Center.

In Conclusion: study author Gene Bowman, ND, MPH, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, a member of the American Academy of Neurology, said that the nutrient biomarkers in the blood accounted for a significant amount of the variation in both brain volume and thinking and memory scores. For the thinking and memory scores, the nutrient biomarkers accounted for 17 percent of the variation in the scores. Other factors such as age, number of years of education and high blood pressure accounted for 46 percent of the variation. For brain volume, the nutrient biomarkers accounted for 37 percent of the variation.

Life Priority, established in 1994, offers supplements that are scientifically-formulated, results-oriented, and GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and are manufactured at USDA and FDA inspected facilities.
*The products and statements made about specific products on this web site have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. All information provided on this web site or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this web site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new vitamins, supplements, diet, or exercise program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.
*Any testimonials on this web site are based on individual results and do not constitute a guarantee that you will achieve the same results.
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