What's up dudes and what's up ladies? It's Bryan again, and it's time for antioxidants and free
radicals, let's roll. Antioxidants and free radicals, this is a story about giving. Let's
start by meeting our full cast of characters, first we have Omar, the oxygen atom, thank you
Omar. Next we have Bobby Bacteria, and next we have Guy the good free radical, and here comes trouble
meet Freddie the bad free radical, next up AAron the cell, and lastly our heroine, yes
a female superhero, Annie the antioxidant. All right clear the stage, except Omar, you step
forward. Okay folks, so, we're going to go through a quick review of basic atomic structure. Omar I
need you to go transparent for me so they can see your insides, thank you Omar. So, in the inner part
of an atom is the nucleus, which contains neutrons and protons, and the two orbits around the nucleus
contain electrons, the main thing to remember is electrons, we're going to deal with them later. Okay
Omar you can get out of here. So, let's discuss free radical. now. Free radicals are electrons
seeking entities, you remember Freddie, the bad free radical, well he and some of his buddies
enter the body and they're looking for electrons, so they come across AAron, the cell guy, and they
hit him hard stealing electrons from him. As you can see after this attack two things have
happened, Freddie, and his free radical friends, are no longer free radicals, they gained the electrons
they wanted, and AAron, the cell guy, he's left severely damaged and he may actually die. So, how
do antioxidants affect this drama, well, Annie, the antioxidant, is going to swoop in and give
Freddie and his boys electrons, as she does this it stabilizes the free radicals and helps prevent AAron
from being attacked. All right guys and girl, clear the stage for me. Free radicals can be some
pretty bad dudes, however, there are some good ones, let's bring back Bobby bacteria, he's somewhere in
the body picking on AAron the cell guy. So, our bodies, being the unbelievable organisms that they
are, sometimes release good free radicals to take care of Bobby, and any of his buddies. Now that we
have a general understanding of antioxidants and free radicals, let's look at some of the ways they
enter the body. Free radicals can enter the body through sun exposure, cigarette smoke, pollution,
pesticides, alcohol, food, especially fried food, water, and even from medicines we take.
Now let's look at antioxidants, we're going to start with Glutathione, it has been called the
master antioxidant. It's comprised of three amino acids and has the ability
to maximize the activity of all the other antioxidants. Glutathione is found in high
quality whey protein, non pasteurized milk, and raw, uncooked fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E
is a fat soluble antioxidant and is found in sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach, and broccoli.
Vitamin C is a water soluble antioxidant and is found in oranges, strawberries, broccoli, and bell
peppers. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant and is found in carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach,
and cantaloupe melon. One other note, our bodies do manufacture some antioxidants on
its own, but this production declines with age. So, what can we do in the free radical antioxidant
battle? Ultimately there are two things we can do to help our bodies, number one is to
limit your exposure to high free radical items, for instance eliminating or eating less fried
foods. Number two is to make sure that you're eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, you
want to consume a wide variety and organic if possible. Bottom line time, as you can see the
antioxidant free radical battle comes down to lifestyle choices and dietary intake. All right
then, if you have any comments or questions you can leave them below, if you liked the video hit
the thumbs, up if you feel that I have just wasted a few minutes of your life I do apologize to you,
you can exact some instant revenge by pounding that thumbs down. Til next time, I'm out, see ya.