How Do Antioxidants Work?

"Antioxidants in the form of vitamins and minerals are said to prevent illness by canceling out the effects of free radicals."

These are highly unstable oxygen molecules which are believed to cause cell damage and possibly promote both cancer and the laying down of fatty deposits in the arteries.

Antioxidants are nutrients (vitamins and minerals) and enzymes (proteins in your body that assist in chemical reactions) that neutralize oxidants (free radicals) that are produced when cells in the body burn oxygen to produce energy. Present in dark green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, and may also be acquired through supplements such as Vitamins C, E, carotenoids, and mixed tocopherols, including beta-carotene.

Free radicals may result from improper diet, strenuous exercise, tobacco, alcohol, stress, polluted air, and even the body's own natural processes causing oxidative stress. The only way to combat free radicals is to neutralize them with antioxidants.

For a more detailed explanation of the antioxidants process/benefits complete with references.

Though nature provides the body with some antioxidants, increased quantities are often needed to replenish or supplement tissue supplies.

Antioxidants work by neutralizing free radicals, which are destructive molecules that many researchers believe to be responsible for the aging process. "Aging is the ever-increasing accumulation of changes caused or contributed to by free radicals," according to Denham Harman, M.D., professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who discovered free radicals at Stanford University in 1969.

Antioxidants in blocking and neutralizing free radicals become oxidized themselves. Thus there is always a need to constantly replenish our antioxidant supply each day.