Antioxidant Vitamins Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for African-American men and women? The disease claims the lives of over 100,000 annually. Perhaps due to this alarming number, much of scientific researches conducted in the US today have recently been focused on how antioxidant vitamins may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Free radicals are harmful, unstable substances that develop after oxidation, a naturally occurring process of the body. Free radicals are not harmful in themselves. In fact, they can be beneficial. The only problem is they do not distinguish between healthy and harmful molecules so that there is a great possibility that they would also "attack" your other healthy cells, causing massive cellular damage, tissue damage, and eventually resulting in a chronic disease or disorder, such as aging. 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. Scientists point out that this might be because consuming antioxidant fruits in food may provide a combination of lesser-known but potent antioxidant substances, which may afford greater effect than that of any single nutrient or individual antioxidant supplement. In a recent issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the total antioxidant content of several antioxidant fruits, including fruits, berries, vegetables, cereals, nuts, and legumes, was analyzed. Antioxidant Foods For years now, scientists have touted antioxidants as the answer to all sorts of diseases, even aging. From preventing heart disease to slowing down degenerative diseases, to stopping cancer, to reducing blood pressure - you name it and everything points right back to antioxidants. The human body is incapable of producing its own concentration of antioxidants. Researchers have found that the antioxidant juice does this by reducing the damage in blood vessels caused by free radicals. Free Radicals - What are they? Now, I'm sure you know what free radicals are. This is probably not the first time you've heard about it. But for the sake of those who have only just stumbled on the term, free radicals are those unstable chemical substances that are highly reactive and are by-products of the process of oxidation in the body.