Antioxidant
Juice
They are mostly found in fresh fruits and vegetables. We’ve
been eating them for centuries and it’s only now that
scientists are beginning to discover exactly what makes them
healthy for the body.
Antioxidants. What exactly are they?
The term is familiar to us. We hear them mentioned all the
time whenever there’s a new scientific study being
released in the American Health Journal or some such
explaining how antioxidant
juice from berries can aid in liver function or how
antioxidant juice from red wine is the scientific reason
behind the French paradox.
Antioxidants, it seems, have far more benefits than we
realize.
A new study shows that antioxidant juice from pomegranate
fruits may help fight the hardening of the arteries.
Researchers have found that the antioxidant juice does this
by reducing the damage in blood vessels caused by free
radicals.
Free Radicals – What are they?
Now, I’m sure you know what free
radicals are. This is probably not the first time you’ve
heard about it. But for the sake of those who have only just
stumbled on the term, free radicals are those unstable
chemical substances that are highly reactive and are
by-products of the process of oxidation in the body. Free
radicals at a minimum can be good for the body since their
function is to steal electrons from atoms of other
molecules, but only if the molecule they’re stealing the
electrons from are foreign molecules in the first place. If
they are healthy molecules, well that’s a different story
all together.
When free radicals start stealing electrons from healthy
cells, that process causes many disorders to occur in the
body. The cells will grow weak until they are eventually
destroyed. Hence, diseases such as cardiovascular disease,
Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, senility, and cancer are often
attributed to the contributing factor of free radicals.
The Effects of Antioxidant Juice
The only way for the body to defend itself from free
radicals is through antioxidants. Unfortunately, human
beings are one of the few animal species that do not produce
their own antioxidants. That is why we depend so much on our
diet for our source of antioxidants.
In the study about antioxidant juice from pomegranates,
researchers have found that the substance can effectively
reverse the progression of atherosclerosis, or the hardening
of the arteries. Atherosclerosis causes decreased blood flow
that can lead to heart
attacks or strokes.
The tests showed that antioxidant juice from pomegranates
reduced the effects of stress on human blood vessel cells by
stimulating the production of nitric oxide. This chemical is
thought to help keep arteries open and keep blood flowing.
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