Seiji Maekawa

HITH 1020
Research Paper 2
Antioxidants
In this research paper, I research abut antioxidants. Our body needs a lot of nutrients such
as carbohydrates, protein, fat, Vitamins, minerals, and water. These nutrients have functions each
ones. Therefore, we need to take various nutrients from foods such as rice, meat, and vegetables.
We can get a lot of information about nutrition, and I picked antioxidant for this research paper.
The reason why I chose antioxidants for this paper is I am interested in antioxidants that is
essential for people. In this paper, there are three parts: 1) what are the antioxidants, 2) what will
we be deficiency of antioxidant, and 3) how do we get the antioxidant.
First of all, I will explain what the antioxidants are. According to MedlinePlus
Antioxidants are man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell
damage. Antioxidants are found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables. They are also
available as dietary supplements. So, antioxidants are substances that have the ability to prevent
or repair the damage caused by oxidation. When I explain about antioxidant, oxidation is an
essential to explain. According to about education, Oxidation is the loss of electrons during a
reaction by a molecule, atom or ion. Oxidation occurs when the oxidation state of a molecule,
atom or ion is increased. The opposite process is called reduction, which occurs when there is a
gain of electrons or the oxidation state of an atom, molecule, or ion decreases. Oxidation is
sometimes helpful, but sometimes destructive. We need oxygen for living life, so our body
always have negative free radical that cause oxidative damage that can result in the development
of a wide range of illnesses and diseases. Free radicals can damage DNA and other molecules,

and antioxidants neutralize free radicals so that they can no longer damage molecules like DNA.
Our body always create free radicals, and antioxidant neutralize free radicals for protecting our
body and health. When we are alive, our body needs antioxidants.
Next, I will explain what we will be deficiency of antioxidant. Antioxidants protect our
cells from free radical. Our body such as organs and brain is made by cells, so if we do not have
enough antioxidants, our body will be damaged. Also, free radicals cause disease such as cancer.
When do we have free radicals? Actually, there are many reasons to create free radicals. When
we have physical stress, physiological stress, and psychological stress, our bodys free radicals
are increasing. When we are smoking and drink alcohol, free radical increasing in our body. Of
course, when we are living usual, our body create free radicals. So we change how much we
need antioxidants depending on the situation. If we smoke or drink alcohol too much, we need
antioxidant than usual. We need to know that we need to get antioxidants from food or
supplement depending on the situation. If we did not know about that, and we get antioxidants as
usual after drinking alcohol too much, we will be disease such as cancer and heart attack.
According to Carper Jean, Indeed, an estimated 80 to 90 percent of all degenerative diseases
involve free radical activity, say some experts. Therefore, our diseases are almost caused by free
radical activity. If we would like to avoid diseases, we need antioxidants depending on the
situation.
Finally, I will explain about how we get the antioxidants. We can get antioxidants from
food or supplements. Some Vitamins such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E are very good
antioxidants, so if the food or supplements have a lot of Vitamin C or Vitamin E, we can get
many antioxidants. According to Webmd, The three major antioxidant Vitamins are betacarotene, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. Youll find them in colorful fruits and vegetables, especially

those with purple, blue, red, orange, and yellow hues. We can find beta-carotene and other
carotenoids in the apricots, asparagus, beets, broccoli, carrots, corn, green peppers, kale, spinach,
sweet potato, and tomatoes. We can find Vitamin C in the berries, broccoli, cauliflower,
grapefruit, kale, kiwi, orange, sweet potato, and tomatoes. We can find Vitamin E in the broccoli,
avocado, mangoes, nuts, pumpkin, and spinach. According to InsideTracker, Vitamin C is a
water-soluble Vitamin, which is excreted by the body through urine and sweat and therefore
needs to be replaced each day. Unlike Vitamin C, Vitamin E is a fat-soluble compound, which is
stored naturally in the body, so you dont need large doses of it to stay healthy. Therefore, we
cannot store Vitamin C not too long, but we can store Vitamin E, so we should not get large
amount. If we do not get antioxidants from food, supplements are good choice for getting
antioxidants. I take supplements that made in Japan every day. When we take supplements, we
need to think about nutrients balance. Vitamin C is not only antioxidant function, so if we get
Vitamin C, we need to get for antioxidant function and other functions. So when we choose
supplements, if we can know how much Vitamins there are in the supplements, it is good.
Japanese supplements are almost not shown amount of Vitamins or minerals. However, the
United States supplements sometimes show amount of Vitamin C. One supplement show that it
contain 500 milligrams Vitamin C, one supplement show that it contain 1000 milligrams Vitamin
C. It helps us to choose supplements. Also, there are a lot of supplements in the United States
more than Japan. It has positive aspects and negative aspects. In positive aspect, we can choose
from a lot of supplements. In negative aspect, we do not know how we choose supplements. In
my opinion, Vitamin C is a water- soluble Vitamin, so we should take every day, and we can
choose large amount of Vitamin C supplements. However, we need to know if we get Vitamin C
and Vitamin E too much, it will be toxic for our body. For example, if we get Vitamin E too

much, it will cause muscle weakness, headaches, nausea, and inhabitation of Vitamin K
metabolism. Also, if we get Vitamin C too much, it will cause GI distress, and it can alter some
diagnostic tests. When we think about getting antioxidant, we should eat food first, then if we
think we need more antioxidants, we should take supplements. There are many antioxidants not
just Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Beta-carotene. Lutein, Lycopene, selenium, Vitamin A, and so on
are also antioxidants. Moreover, we should know vegetables and fruits are rich sources of
antioxidants. We should eat a lot of vegetables and fruits every day, and we feel that we need
more antioxidants, we should take supplements.
In conclusion, I explained about antioxidants, and it has three parts: 1) what are the
antioxidants, 2) what will we be deficiency of antioxidant, 3) how do we get the antioxidant.
Antioxidants protect our body and health, and if we do not have antioxidant enough, it will cause
diseases. We can get antioxidants from food and supplements. Antioxidants are so important for
our health, so if someone would like to live longer, he or she needs antioxidant from food or
supplements. We should get antioxidant depend on the situation. Health important for all of us
including baby, students, professor, and president, so we should know about antioxidants.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Antioxidants MedlinePlus, 2 April
2015, https://medlineplus.gov/antioxidants.html
Anne Marie Helmenstine. Oxidation Definition in Chemistry about education 15 August 2016,
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryglossary/g/Oxidation-Definition.htm
Carper Jean. Cracking the Mysteryof Why We Ageand How We Can Stop It Stop Aging Now!
2004, http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/servlet/DCARead?
standardNo=0060985003&standardNoType=1&excerpt=true
Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen. Super Foods for Optimal Health WebMD 25 October 2015
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/antioxidants-your-immune-system-super-foods-optimalhealth