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Are Antioxidants the Answer to Healthy Aging?

Denman Harmon discovered in the 1960’s that healthy aging should be focused on the mitochondrial damage. He found that mitochondrial damage and dysfunction was the direct result of free radical exposure. Hence, his theory called the Mitochondrial Theory of Aging.

What is healthy aging?

The term “healthy aging” is used to describe optimizing years of healthy living. This is achieved by protecting your body from significant damage. It may seem like a simple idea, but eating healthy, regular exercise, and including high amounts of antioxidants is the key.

The real struggle is with balancing everyday life and stressors. We inadvertently speed up our aging process with these factors.

Protecting your body

Diets that are rich in antioxidants give your body the protection it needs from the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that will damage the cells in your body. These free radicals usually happen as a result of the normal metabolic process.

Foods that are higher in antioxidants should be in your diet on a regular basis. Some of these foods are raw fruits and vegetables like berries and peppers .Antioxidants aren’t usually in high enough quantities to combat a large number of free radicals that we can be exposed to daily.

The human body has the ability to protect itself against free radicals by making its own antioxidants. These include:

• Glutathione
• Super Oxide Dismutase
• Catalase
• Co-enzyme
• L-Carnitine
• Melatonin
• Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Supplemental sources of antioxidants are a great way to boost your free radical fighting abilities. At the very least, you should be taking multivitamins.

Different people can react differently to each of these supplements. For more information on what is right for you, talk to your doctor.

Hannah Verret

Hannah Verret is a Content Developer at Med-Alert Pros in Memphis, TN. Hannah has been working in content creation throughout her entire adult career. When Hannah isn't writing or organizing social media posts, she's spending her time reading and loving on her many pets.