My earliest recollection of high school chemistry was my linguistically-challenged teacher's pronunciation when teaching us about the virtues of the compound, and while we would imitate later and laugh about it… it still comes up high school reunions these days about them "good old days".
Of course, it was not all fun and jokes when it came to cramming equations for our exams in the final year of school, thanks to those blessed Redox equations that we had to understand and memorize in order to do well. And there's no doubt who had the last laugh, even if it wasn't really her intention.
Yet as we all know, when you go up to graduate school, Chemistry is divided into several sections notably general, organic and yes, Biochemistry – a blend of disciplines that explores in the chemistry in any biological system i.e. our body.
One of the most important aspects that is a part of biochemistry is oxidative stress, and how it affects our body apart other organisms as well. But the reason why it is given so much importance is due to the fact that it has direct impact on our health, and this is what we will review in the next section.
A Note on Oxidative Stress
Right off the bat, what concerns health professionals in regards to this natural process that occurs in our body on a daily basis is the keyword "free radicals". The reason for this concern is due to the fact that this can have health implications from the not so critical to the fatal, and here is an article that describes the latter.
But before we get into detail, how these free radicals are created is when we breathe oxygen for our body's cells to produce energy in order to perform simple and daily functions.
Since this is an oxidative process, free radicals are formed (can also be considered as an atom, molecule or ion that carries a charge) and are considered damaging to the body's tissues and cells if not neutralized.
And this is where antioxidant sources can help to deal with oxidative stress caused by these free radicals…
Of course, the body produces antioxidants to neutralize these free radicals but the truth is it isn't sufficient to deal with all of them, and so most health experts suggest that it is best to eat antioxidant-rich foods that will prevent damage to your body's cell, membranes and genes.
And if you aren't sure whether to take this seriously or not, here are a couple of reasons why: Parkinson's disease, heart failure, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, Alzheimer's disease, fragile X and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Foods rich in Anti-Oxidants
1) Fruit
Berries such as the strawberry, raspberry, crowberry, blueberry, black currant, blackberry, cherry and bilberry. Other fruits include red grapes, oranges, pomegranates, plums, pineapples, grapefruit and the kiwifruit.
2) Vegetables
Red beets, ginger, lemon, spinach, Brussels sprouts, artichoke, parsley, peppers, red cabbage, chili peppers, tomatoes, broccoli,carrots, garlic
3) Dry fruit
Dates, prunes and apricots
4) Legumes
Soybeans, pinto beans and broad beans
5) Nuts and seeds
Walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, ground nuts and sunflower seeds.
6) Spices
Oregano, cinnamon and cloves
7) Cereals
Corn, oats, millets and barley
8) Other
Green tea, red wine and dark chocolate
In Closing
And if you've come this far, then I'm sure you aren't necessarily linguistically challenged enough to figure that the bottom line to a healthy life is antioxidant-rich foods.
