THE PERFORMANCE AND HEALTH IMPROVING EFFECTS OF ANTI-OXIDANTS.

A healthy cell has a mortal enemy which is called a "free radical." Free radicals constantly seek out healthy cells and attack their vulnerable outer membranes eventually causing cellular degeneration and death. Free radicals, scientists know today, carry out the actual destructive work in disease, in infection, in stress and in aging. Additionally, free radicals can negatively affect athletic performance by slowing or halting muscle growth and by lowering aerobic capacity. Further, free radicals are known to cause defects in normal RNA as well as in life perpetuating DNA, the genetic material of the cells.

Normal molecules in the body have two (a paired group) electrons in their outer shell. A molecule with a single electron (unpaired) in its outer shell is called a free radical. Free radicals occur naturally when oxygen in the bloodstream combine with any of a diverse group of chemicals including those commonly found in polluted air, in primary and/or second hand cigarette smoke, in known chemical toxins; as well as, in food additives and in re-heated cooking oil. Additionally, free radical production and damage is accelerated by the normal radiation found in sunlight and by increasing exercise, especially running and other aerobic activities. This is easy to understand in that aerobic exercise can increase oxygen consumption ten to twenty times normal values. With more oxygen available in the bloodstream; free radical production soars. Worse, the direct muscle destroying activities of the free radicals continue many hours after exercise stops.

The destructive effects of free radicals can be prevented with the addition of anti-oxidants in the diet or by anti-oxidant supplements. A good anti-oxidant complex supplement actually has advantages over diet sources in that the complex has many different specific types of anti-oxidants which seek out and destroy free radicals at many various cellular sites. A single anti-oxidant, for example Vitamin E, only protects the outer fatty layers of the cell. It will not stabilize DNA which, for example, is one the main effects of the anti-oxidant Vitamin C. The process by which different anti-oxidants disperse through the bloodstream to protect the cells at different sites is refered to in science as "anti-oxidant synergy." When a specific anti-oxidant meets a free radical in the bloodstream at it's appropriate activity site, it naturally combines with it and coverts the free radical to harmless water and oxygen. As a result, as anti-oxidant increases due to the supplementation of higher amounts of a greater variety of anti-oxidants, cellullar damage lessens and performance and health improves. In fact, aside from the numerous scientifically compelling studies addressing the varied health benefits of anti-oxidant supplementation, there have been studies completed demonstrating a dramatic decrease in injuries in athletic training with the simple addition of a good anti-oxidant complex supplement. A good anti-oxidant complex should have a variety of powerful individual anti-oxidants including Vitamins A, C and E, the minerals Zinc and Selenium , the amino acid N-Acetyl-Cysteine and natural plant extracts of Grape Skin, Bilberry and Green Tea. Green Tea and Grape Skin are especially powerful anti-oxidants, providing twenty to thirty times the biological activity of other individual anti-oxidants.

A variety of companies produce excellent anti-oxidant supplements. Runners and gym trained athletes, hjowever, should take an anti-oxidant product specifically formulated to meet the needs of athletes who normally dramatically increase blood oxygen through their training. Team Stick's Anti Oxidant Complex is a powerful product designed especially for the unusual needs of the runner or the gym athlete in training.

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