What Antioxidants Do to Your Body

Antioxidants are molecules that neutralizes free radicals.

What is free radicals?

Based on my atom explanation, electrons are one component of an atom. Electrons like to be in pairs, like friends who don’t like to be separated. A free radical is an electron that has no pair. A lonely electron will steal any electron from whatever it bumps into: a protein, a piece of DNA, or fatty cell. The stolen electron will push another electron that used to pair with them to steal another electron again. It’s like never-ending vicious act.

A free radicals can damage cells by create oxidative damage. Antioxidants come to stop the chain reaction by donating an electron to unpaired electron. A free radicals are not entirely bad, our immune system use them to kills pathogens.

Our body makes its own antioxidants (like glutathione and enzymes) and gets from foods that contains vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, zinc, carotenoids, etc.