Throughout history, man has been fascinated with remaining young and living longer. Although no one has succeeded in finding eternal youth, everyone is constantly searching for a way to bolt the door against old age. There are three current methods being tried; (1) antioxidants, (2) growth hormones and (3) herbs. While these methods may help slow down the aging process, they have their limitations and downsides. So, which method works better? Is one of these the solution to living longer or does the search continue for eternal youth? .
To answer these questions, let us examine the first method, antioxidants. Doctors and scientist have studied the body for ages, hoping to find out how the aging process works. They found that the body ages when its cells become damaged and can't repair itself fast enough. The damaging of the body's cells is mainly caused through oxidation or free radical damage. Free radical damage is when electrically-charged molecules attack your cells. The effect from this attack can cause inflammatory diseases, kidney diseases, cataracts, heart disease and cancer. Fortunately, free radical damage can be controlled by antioxidants. Antioxidants stabilize and deactivate free radicals before they attack the cells. However, when cigarette smoke, pollution, radiation stress or excessive sun exposure cause free radical levels get too high, the body can't keep up. Further, as you get older, your body produces less antioxidant. To help your body fight free radicals and possibly live longer, you can increase the amount of antioxidants in your body through supplements and vitamins. However, one needs to do research to find the right amount and combination to take. While taking numerous vitamins may produce a large supply of antioxidant to eliminate free radical damage, it may also not allow the body to benefit from two things that a balanced amount of free radical attack can do, increase energy and kill bacteria.