Scientific studies have found that antioxidants are found in most fruits and vegetables and in culinary and medicinal herbs A study in 2006 sho that the consumption of smaller quantities of a variety of phytochemicals may be more beneficial than the consumption of larger quantities of fewer phytochemicals. However, when the antioxidant neutralizes a free radical it becomes inactive and so we need to constantly supply our body with antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by receiving or donating an electron without becoming a free radicals themselves since the are stable in both forms and thus cell damage is prevented. Free radicals try to steal or give electrons to other molecules, thereby changing their chemical structure. Free radicals form naturally and also by other external factors such as smoking, pesticides, pollution and radiation from the and electrical goods. Antioxidant Rich Foods and Oils Antioxidants are phytochemicals, vitamins and other nutrients that prevent damage to our cells by free radicals thus preventing cancer and heart disease. When a free radical attacks an essential molecule in our body, it transforms the essential molecule into a free radical, causing a chain reaction leading to the destruction of a cell.

Free radicals are unstable molecules which react with essential molecules within our body, including DNA, fat and proteins.