Post by MINX on Aug 17, 2006 3:50:50 GMT -5
If you are not already taking a multivitamin, you SHOULD BE!! This article explains how antioxidants (Vitamins A, C, E, etc) work and protect your body.
Antioxidant means "against oxidation." Antioxidants work to protect lipids from peroxidation by radicals. Antioxidants are effective because they are willing to give up their own electrons to free radicals. When a free radical gains the electron from an antioxidant it no longer needs to attack the cell and the chain reaction of oxidation is broken .After donating an electron an antioxidant becomes a free radical by definition. Antioxidants in this state are not harmful because they have the ability to accommodate the change in electrons without becoming reactive. The human body has an elaborate antioxidant defense system. Antioxidants are manufactured within the body and can also be extracted from the food humans eat such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, meats, and oil.
There are two lines of antioxidant defense within the cell. The first line, found in the fat-soluble cellular membrane consists of vitamin E, beta-carotene, and coenzyme Q (10). Of these, vitamin E is considered the most potent chain breaking antioxidant within the membrane of the cell. Inside the cell water soluble antioxidant scavengers are present. These include vitamins A, C, E and the mineral selenium.
Oxygen consumption greatly increases during exercise, which leads to increased free radical production. The body counters the increase in free radical production through the antioxidant defense system. When free radical production exceeds clearance oxidative damage occurs. Free radicals formed during chronic exercise may exceed the protective capacity of the antioxidant defense system, thereby making the body more immune to disease and injury. Therefore the need for antioxidant supplementation is very important!
A free radical attack on a membrane usually damages a cell to the point that it must be removed by the immune system. If free radical formation and attack are not controlled within the muscle during exercise a large quantity of muscle could easily be damaged. Damaged muscle could in turn inhibit performance by the induction of fatigue. The role individual antioxidants have in inhibiting this damage has been addressed within the review of the four antioxidants that follows.
One of the first steps in recovery from exercise induced muscle damage is an acute inflammatory response at the site of muscle damage. Free radicals are commonly associated with the inflammatory response and are hypothesized to be greatest twenty-four hours after completion of a strenuous exercise session.
Antioxidants play a major role in helping prevent this damage. However, if antioxidant defense systems are inadequate or not elevated during the post-exercise infiltration period free radicals could further damage muscle beyond that acquired during exercise. This in turn would increase the time needed to recover from an exercise bout.
~MINX
Antioxidant means "against oxidation." Antioxidants work to protect lipids from peroxidation by radicals. Antioxidants are effective because they are willing to give up their own electrons to free radicals. When a free radical gains the electron from an antioxidant it no longer needs to attack the cell and the chain reaction of oxidation is broken .After donating an electron an antioxidant becomes a free radical by definition. Antioxidants in this state are not harmful because they have the ability to accommodate the change in electrons without becoming reactive. The human body has an elaborate antioxidant defense system. Antioxidants are manufactured within the body and can also be extracted from the food humans eat such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, meats, and oil.
There are two lines of antioxidant defense within the cell. The first line, found in the fat-soluble cellular membrane consists of vitamin E, beta-carotene, and coenzyme Q (10). Of these, vitamin E is considered the most potent chain breaking antioxidant within the membrane of the cell. Inside the cell water soluble antioxidant scavengers are present. These include vitamins A, C, E and the mineral selenium.
Oxygen consumption greatly increases during exercise, which leads to increased free radical production. The body counters the increase in free radical production through the antioxidant defense system. When free radical production exceeds clearance oxidative damage occurs. Free radicals formed during chronic exercise may exceed the protective capacity of the antioxidant defense system, thereby making the body more immune to disease and injury. Therefore the need for antioxidant supplementation is very important!
A free radical attack on a membrane usually damages a cell to the point that it must be removed by the immune system. If free radical formation and attack are not controlled within the muscle during exercise a large quantity of muscle could easily be damaged. Damaged muscle could in turn inhibit performance by the induction of fatigue. The role individual antioxidants have in inhibiting this damage has been addressed within the review of the four antioxidants that follows.
One of the first steps in recovery from exercise induced muscle damage is an acute inflammatory response at the site of muscle damage. Free radicals are commonly associated with the inflammatory response and are hypothesized to be greatest twenty-four hours after completion of a strenuous exercise session.
Antioxidants play a major role in helping prevent this damage. However, if antioxidant defense systems are inadequate or not elevated during the post-exercise infiltration period free radicals could further damage muscle beyond that acquired during exercise. This in turn would increase the time needed to recover from an exercise bout.
~MINX