Antioxidant food is something we all have heard of. You have heard it from you doctor or your mom. How many times she has said, "Eat your veggies. An apple a day…" Familiar?

There is nothing healthier than fresh produce you can include in your diet, but there are more reasons for doctors insisting on consuming fresh fruits and vegetables. Yes, you are right. It is antioxidant foods.

Antioxidant foods are powerful fighting means against free radicals that hunts them down and destroys them wherever they are in our bodies.

And Free Radicals are…?

As you know free radicals are very reactive chemical substances, produced when the body undergoes the process of oxidation. Free radicals are reactive because of their lack of electrons, and this makes them extremely unstable.

To achieve their stability, free radicals are stealing electrons from other molecules around them, destroying the cell membranes and weakening the cell structure.

In this way, free radicals are causing a chain reaction of "electron stealing". The moment they take away electrons from other molecules, they make them become free radicals themselves. Result is massive destruction, causing such disorders as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's, senility, cancer and more.

Antioxidant vs. Free Radicals

Oxidation is a naturally occurring process in the body. There is really no way we can avoid it or prevent it from happening. Mere act of breathing causes oxidation to take place. Because of this way, free radicals, as oxidation's by-products, are always going to be present in our body.

What if there is a way to break the free radical chain reaction? A way to retard the development of free radicals and a way to prevent those harmful effects caused by free radicals from developing?

Indeed, there is a way. Antioxidant foods are very powerful substances, which can prevent free radicals and neutralize the damage they do to your body's cells. Because of this, scientists are continuing to conduct studies on antioxidant foods and many benefits the body can incur from them.

And Antioxidant Foods Is …?

Many foods with high antioxidant levels are vegetables and fruits. Broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower - these are but a few of the many antioxidant foods you can find in every shop.

You should note that not all vegetables are high sources of antioxidant foods. Some fruits or vegetables may have lesser concentration or amount of antioxidant foods as other vegetables. For instance, white grapes do not have the same amount of antioxidant foods as the grapes used in making red wine.