By reducing exposure to free radicals and increasing the intake of antioxidant enzyme rich foods or antioxidant enzyme supplements, your body's potential to reducing the risk of free radical-related health problems is made more palpable. The human body produces several types of antioxidant enzymes. The antioxidant enzymes include superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Antioxidant Flax Oil We've read about them, read about them, and perhaps even talked about them with our friends. Antioxidants, it seems, have created quite a huge wave in the scientific community that is devoting countless journals and magazine articles about their many benefits. Antioxidants are substances that work on free radicals, or more particularly work to counteract the damaging effects of these harmful oxygen byproducts. How Antioxidant Foods Work Oxidation is a naturally occurring process in the body so there is really no way for us to avoid or prevent it from happening. Even the mere act of breathing causes oxidation to take place. That being said, free radicals, as by-products of oxidation, will always be present in our body. No problem though because you can always find antioxidant foods almost anywhere. The best way to lay an antioxidant-rich foundation that's inhospitable to toxins and free radicals is through a combination of whole foods. With antioxidant supplements still far from the high expectations of the scientific community, you can in the meantime turn to the more reliable source of these helpful compounds, which are antioxidant foods. Antioxidant Fruits: The Benefits Many people are already familiar with antioxidant fruits, such as citrus fruits which are known for their high vitamin C content or apples for their beta-carotene. Consuming lots of antioxidant fruits in your diet will help boost the body's defense against free radicals and oxidative stress (damage caused by free radicals). We've been eating them for centuries and it's only now that scientists are beginning to discover exactly what makes them healthy for the body. Antioxidants. What exactly are they? The term is familiar to us. We hear them mentioned all the time whenever there's a new scientific study being released in the American Health Journal or some such explaining how antioxidant juice from berries can aid in liver function or how antioxidant juice from red wine is the scientific reason behind the French paradox.