But Wait...If you call Right Now, we'll give you theeeese FREE Radicals!

So, we all know antioxidants are good for us and we've heard the term a million times, but have you ever really looked into WHY they are good for us?  Maybe understanding would give you the edge you need to up your consumption of these yummy guys. 

To make this as short as possible without getting too scientific:

Oxidation is a natural process that happens when any living sell is exposed to oxygen.  This happens 24 hours a day in your body.  Cells die, they regenerate and the process goes on.  BUT, in this process, a few cells are damaged and Free Radicals are created.  Free radicals are atoms with unpaired electrons.  How the hell does this affect you?  Well, when one of these cells goes to find another attractive cell-mate (Haha...I kill me) to pair up with since it's lacking an electron, it doesn't just kill that other cell, its actually alters the cell's DNA, mutating it and causing a chain reaction.  Killing the cell-mate would be too easy and your body could regenerate more.  No biggie...but that's not what occurs.  Those free radicals that happen constantly and 'hook up' with other  cells alter the DNA in other cells and continue to react in the same manner, causing more cells to mutate, and more, and more.  Sounds like growing cancer?  Ding Ding Ding! 

Great news is this: free radicals are part of our body's natural process and your body can generally fight off these free radicals, but the problem is this: FREE Radicals are everywhere just waiting to mate with your gorgeous healthy cells!  From smoke and pesticides and millions of other environmental factors, those free radicals are like ravenous teenage boys just waiting to get some of you!  So what do you do about ravenous teenage boys?  (Pardon my french...)...You Cock-Block!  Look at antioxidants as the cock-blockers against free radicals.  They step in, preventing those pesky free radicals from continuing to rape your body's healthy cells and break the chain that the free radicals started. 

Make sense now?  Free radicals mutate your cells.  Consuming more antioxidant rich foods helps to prevent the damage caused by free radicals.  i.e. preventing the oxidation of more cells.

Darker fruits and veggies are packed with antioxidants.  HOWEVER...to throw another loop into this whole mess, although berries are chock full of them, they are also part of the Dirty Dozen, so ONLY buy berries ORGANIC!  (As a rule of thumb, if you eat the skin of the fruit, buy organic.).  

Make healthy choices!