New Antioxidant Discovered

Antioxidants . . . what comes to mind first? The orange vegetables - carrots and sweet potatoes, supplements like selenium, and vitamins C, D, E, right? When we think about antioxidants , we typically think about eating something to combat those trouble-making oxidants with anti-oxidants from supplements and vividly collared fruit and vegetables. I want to change your mind about antioxidants! What are antioxidants? Antioxidants are reported to be a major player in health and wellness by scavenging the blood for free radical cells that have entered the bloodstream from pollutants.

Some free radical cells are positive and are needed to fight disease and heal injury. However, when the body is exposed to environmental pollution, free radicals are produced in excess.

Excessive Free radicals do the damage

Excessive free radicals not only cause damage and leave the body more susceptible to carcinogens (cancer causing substances), they also play role in heart disease and hardening of the arteries.

This occurs when free radicals oxidize with the bad (low-density) cholesterol.

Oxidation in the blood stream operates in the same way that metal tarnishes (when it's left outside in the weather). When metal tarnishes, it is being oxidized. And that's what excessive free radical reactions do in your bloodstream.

The traditional way to combat free radicals is to increase the amount of food rich in vitamins C, D, E, beta-carotene, selenium, and take antioxidant supplements.

..but now there's a new antioxidant on the block!

New Antioxidant discovered

Researchers report that high-intensity exercise - the Synergy Fitness type of fitness training - that produces lactic acid (the burning sensation in muscles during exercise) may need to be considered an "antioxidant agent" because of its ability to scavenge for free radicals. (Free radical scavenging and antioxidant effects of lactate ion: an in vitro study, 2000, Groussard).

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. When you reach an out-of-breath (anaerobic) state during exercise, the body tells the blood system to hunt for all the oxygen it can to pay back the oxygen debt.

By performing anaerobic exercise, you have done something to your body to make it automatica