Antioxidants Benefits

Shielding The Genetic Code
One of the most important functions of antioxidants is to protect the genetic code of our cells, known as DNA. This is important-because DNA controls all the cellular activities that go on in the body. One of the more fundamental roles of DNA includes cell division.

According to one leading theory, cancer begins when there’s oxidative damage of DNA, which then leads to the uncontrolled division of cells-in other words, tumor formation. This theory would help explain, • for instance, why smokers are much more prone to lung cancer than nonsmokers. If we inhale cigarette smoke or any kind of smoke, for that matter it damages the DNA in the lungs.

But even without such a clear violation of our defenses, scientists estimate that each human cell’s DNA receives thousands of “oxidative hits” a day. So antioxidants are critical to our survival, and they need all the help they can get from the enzymes in cells that help protect cell DNA from oxidation.