Antioxidants Functions

An antioxidant is a chemical substance and the antioxidant functions by preventing oxidation of other substances. This includes their use as additives in industrial oils to prevent rancidity. Since oxidation can generate free radicals that damage living cells, so many think it is important to eat foods rich in antioxidants. There is no common understanding of the function of antioxidants in the body within the scientific community.

When a person has an infection or inflammation free radicals are formed. Our immune system uses these “poisons” to attack the bacteria that somehow entered the body. While these self-produced radicals kills bacteria, they can also harm us. Therefore, there should be a balance between the radicals and antioxidants.

Chemically antioxidants work by donating an electron to the free radical, which becomes stable.

The explanation for the antioxidant function is in their chemical structure which makes it easy to transfer electrons across the molecule. When antioxidants react with a free radical the antioxidant donates an electron to the radical, which leads to the radical being “neutralized” so that it becomes less reactive. Instead, the antioxidant becomes more reactive, but due to the aforementioned ability to transfer electrons, its reactivity is relatively low compared to the radicals.