What are antioxidants ?

TEA BEGAN AS A MEDICINE AND GREW
INTO A HEALTHY BEVERAGE.

There is a lot more than meets the eye when you enjoy a cup of tea – and a lot more than just tantalizing the taste buds. Tea has an impressive history as a healthy beverage. It is often said in Chinese literature that foods and medicine share common sources. This is almost certainly the case with tea. History records that the habit of drinking tea has been associated with the maintenance of healthy body function within a healthy lifestyle.

Lu Yu, the famous Chinese tea master (A.D. 780) found the remedy for ailments such as body aches and pains, constipation, headaches, and depression: tea. Traditional health claims for tea had included, the increase of blood flow throughout the body, mental stimulation resulting in clarity, detoxification of body, boosting of immunity, preserving young-looking skin, brightening of the eyes, aiding digestion, banishing fatigue, prolonging life span. It is one of the most exciting areas of health research today is the field of antioxidant nutrition.

Antioxidants for a healthy lifestyle

Antioxidants are dietary substances which include nutrients that prevent damage to your body cells or repair damage, namely beta-carotene, vitamins C and E as well as selenium. Antioxidants significantly slowdown or prevent the oxidative process (damaged caused by oxygen) due to the activity of free radicals. This could result in cell dysfunction. In your body, the antioxidant process is similar to stopping an apple from browning. Once you cut an apple, it begins to brown, but if you dip it in orange juice, which contains vitamin C, it stays white.

The body depends on many vitamins and minerals to act as antioxidants, and the list of compounds that can act as antioxidants is impressively long. The best free-radical protection comes from a diverse intake of antioxidants. Plant foods are an abundant source of antioxidant nutrients, including vitamins A, C, and E, and the carotenoids.

References
-Mitscher, Lester A, Victoria Dolby, The green tea book: China's fountain of youth, 1998, Avery Publishing Group, p7,8.
-Mitscher, Lester A, Victoria Dolby, The green tea book: China's fountain of youth, 1998, Avery Publishing Group, p45