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Preventing Cancer with Antioxidants

Posted by Admin on Saturday, January 16, 2010 - 06:11 AM

No, I am not claiming antioxidants cure cancer or prevent cancer from ever forming, I am claiming that antioxidants can help reduce one’s chances of developing cancer, or at least slow the cancer process down. Antioxidants can help fight off potential cancer cells, while at the same time fight off other diseases and viruses as well.

Before a person develops cancer, there are many steps involved.

1. Cells form into abnormal cells
2. Abnormal cells turn into cancer cells
3. Cancer cells develop a tumor
4. Cancerous cells begin spreading throughout various organs of the body

Each of these steps takes a while, and if we can find a way from disposing of abnormal (or radical) cells before they ever form into cancerous cells, then we can potentially stop or prevent cancer. This is what antioxidants help to do. Antioxidants help speed up the process of replacing radical, abnormal, and damage cells with healthier and younger cells.

To understand this process and how it works, we first must understand free radical cells.

Free radical cells are cells with a missing electron, which means the cell is unbalanced or unstable. When cells become unstable, they almost always want to become stable again. In an attempt to become stable, the free radical cells will "fight" for other cell's electrons. In the long-run, this process can damage living and healthy cells and make free radical cells predominate.

Damaged caused by too many free radical cells:
Free radical cells will be the predominate cells type in the elderly because their system has slowed down and they cannot reproduce as many new cells. Therefore, many of their cells are old. These old cells cause the effects of aging (wrinkles, memory loss, etc.).

Also, free radicals can damage organs causing them to develop diseases.

Free radicals cells can eventually transform into cancer cells because of their abnormality.

The antioxidants come in to help prevent an overload of free radical cells. The good news is, antioxidants assist the free radicals. Antioxidants go around to the free radical cells and offer them their electron. The free radical cells will become stable now that they have the correct amount of electrons, and the antioxidants will still remain stable. This process makes all of our cells like new, preventing abnormal and cancer cells from ever developing.

To get all the benefits of antioxidants, it is best to consume a variety of foods that contain a variety of antioxidants. Some antioxidants are better for one thing, while others are good for other things. But if you are looking for antioxidants that specifically help reduce your chances of developing cancer or that will help slow the development of your cancer, then the following antioxidants are for you:

• Vitamin C, which can be found in many fruits and vegetables, plus many other types of food
• Vitamin E, found in oils, nuts, broccoli, corn, and many other foods
• Beta-carotene, found in many orange foods like cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.
• Lycopene, which can be found in tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, and apricots