Benefits of Antioxidants

Most of us know that antioxidants are good for us, but here's how they positively affect the major parts of our bodies...

Central Nervous System

• Many cross the blood brain barrier to help protect the brain from free radical damage, thereby helping the brain remain healthy
• Lower your risk of stroke, and also lower your risk of dying from a stroke
• Improve learning and memory retention
• May protect against dementia/Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease
  

• Protect against visual loss that occurs with aging, i.e. retinopathy, macular degeneration, cataracts, degenerative retinal damage (age-related)
• Prevent damage to very sensitive lipids (fats) of the retina

• Help to prevent and reverse heart disease; inhibits atherosclerosis
• Indirectly help to lower blood pressure
• Lower your risk of developing (and dying from) coronary heart disease

• Help to alleviate lung disorders, including asthma, cigarette smoke-induced injury, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, oxidant-pollutant injury, ARDS

• Relax blood vessels, thereby improving blood circulation and helping to normalize blood pressure
• Help to decrease blood viscosity (keep blood cells slippery) and prevent thrombus formation (blood clots from forming), thereby helping to prevent heart attacks and strokes
• Strengthen blood vessel walls, improve the functioning of blood vessels, decreasing the risk of capillary bleeding
• Reduce platelet aggregation, thereby reducing the tendency for blood clots to form (anti-clotting effects)
• Help prevent the oxidation of LDL, “the bad cholesterol,” thereby decreasing cholesterol deposits from forming (atherosclerosis)
• Counteract the negative effects of cholesterol on the heart and blood vessels
• Increase the activation of existing nitric oxide synthase, thereby increasing nitric oxide levels. Nitric oxide has positive effects on blood vessels, prevents inflammation, helps to lower blood pressure, and improves blood flow to the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain.

• Boost liver detoxification function, thereby protecting against ingested toxin, i.e. food-related toxins
• By improving liver enzyme function, help to eliminate mutagens and carcinogens, thereby helpful in cancer prevention

• Boost immune function and protect against many types of infections
• Have antiviral, antibacterial, antihistamine, and even anticarcinogenic properties
• Inhibit the enzyme necessary for histamine production (antihistamine effect), thereby alleviating hay fever and allergy symptoms
• Protects against development and prevention of cancer (shown in many scientific studies)
• Help to induce mechanisms that help kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor invasion; suppress cancer growth and spread well described in in vitro studies.
• Can neutralize free radicals which suppress the immune system

• Help keep skin smooth and flexible
• Strengthen and repair connective tissue
• Inhibit the body’s enzymes that break down collagen
• Bind to skin proteins collagen and elastin to seal leaky capillaries and protect tissue from age-related injury
• Help with skin disorders, including sunburn, general burns (UV/solar inflammation), psoriasis, eczema

• Terminate injury from free radicals and protect cells from free radical damage that may result in heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia/Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, Lupus, diabetes, Sickle Cell Disease, Gum diseases including periodontisitis, to name a few!
• The higher the level of antioxidants in your system, the greater amount of protection from degenerative diseases (age-related diseases), as cited above Antioxidants synergize with other antioxidants; they increase the production of other antioxidants in cells; they recycle other antioxidants
• Lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, heart failure, and stroke
• Reduce inflammation from many causes, i.e. joint inflammation from arthritis
• Protect against various toxins, i.e. tobacco smoke, environmental pollutants, UV radiation, pesticides in food, inhaled solvent, heavy metals, and well as free radicals formed as a byproduct of normal body metabolic processes
• May raise HDL, “good cholesterol”, and lower LDL, “bad cholesterol”
• In many studies, antioxidants have been shown to dramatically reduce the incidence of many cancers
• May help with dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain) and endometriosis
• May help with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)

• Found naturally in fruits and vegetables which is why the USDA recommends at least 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily
• Found in supplemental juice drinks, but the antioxidant score of each drink varies based on the juice contents
• The antioxidant score, or ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), measures the ability of a juice to neutralize oxygen based free radicals. For example, superoxide is one of the most dangerous free radicals made in our bodies.† Elevated superoxide levels are linked to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, asthma and other inflammatory conditions. The higher the ORAC score, the more antioxidant activity a juice has, the greater the ability to neutralize many free radicals found in our bodies.
• The USDA and other leading institutions recommend that we consume an equivalent of at least 3,000 - 6,000 ORAC units. That would translate to at least 6-12 servings of fruits and vegetables. However, supplementing with antioxidant-rich juices offers a second way to make sure that your bodies are equipped with at least 6,000 ORAC units per day, everyday, for the rest of your life. Jus offers 8,687 ORAC units per ounce of antioxidant protection!