The Next Vitamins

Vitamins A, C, E and quasi-vitamins Coenzyme Q10 and alpha lipoic acid are powerful antioxidants that neutralize the damage caused by free radicals and oxidation. Our body’s cells are undergoing a continuous cycle of oxidation (losing an electron) and reduction (gaining an electron). Oxygen and other atoms or molecules that are unstable because they lack an electron are called free radicals. These free radicals don’t like to exist in an unstable state and will steal another electron from where ever they can and can damage the cell that they oxidize. Free radicals are created as part of the body’s normal metabolic process and if there are insufficient antioxidants available to donate electrons and neutralize the free radicals then cell damage will result. When we are young, the body generates some of the antioxidants it needs and it acquires the remainder from the food we eat. As we get older, the body generates fewer antioxidants and the free radicals outnumber the antioxidants. This means the body is unable to repair the free radical damage and it ages and becomes subject to age-related degenerative diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, strokes,...