"Introducing the Antioxidant Network,"
an excerpt from the new book:
THE ANTIOXIDANT MIRACLE: Your Complete Plan to Total Health
and Healing
By Lester Packer, Ph.D. And Carol Colman Published by John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chapter One, The Antioxidant Miracle
Suppose that I told you there was a pill that would keep your
heart strong, your mind sharp, and your body youthful well
into your seventies, eighties, nineties, and even beyond?
Suppose that I told you there was a pill that could extend
your life and improve your sex life? Suppose I told you there
was a pill that could prevent cancer? How about a pill that
could keep your skin supple and wrinkle-free?
Would you think that I was a victim of wishful thinking? A
weird futurist dreaming about a drug yet to be discovered?
I'm not. I am a serious mainstream scientist, and the pills
I am talking about not only really exist, but area readily
available. They are in your neighborhood pharmacy and natural
food store. Chances are you will find them on the shelves
of your local grocery and discount store. You can purchase
them by phone, by mail, and by e-mail on the Internet. (You
may have a few on your kitchen counter already -- but you're
probably not taking them correctly.) But their availability
doesn't make their effects any less miraculous.
I am talking about antioxidants, a family of vitamins, minerals
and other nutrients that I have been studying for the better
part of my seventy years. Antioxidants are the reason I get
up every morning and go to my lab at the University of California
at Berkeley. Antioxidants are the reason I travel all over
the world to attend scientific conferences. Antioxidants are
the reason I have written hundreds of scientific articles
and, now, this book. And antioxidants are the reason why,
at my age, I have no plans whatsoever to slow down. My name
has become so closely linked to the study of antioxidants
that I have been dubbed "Dr. Antioxidant" by some of my colleagues.
Antioxidants are a group of compounds that are produced by
the body and that occur naturally in many foods. Antioxidants
work together in the body to maintain our health and vigor
well into the late decades of life. They do this by protecting
us from damage caused by free radicals, which can injure healthy
cells and tissues. The body produces free radicals in the
normal course of energy production, but there are also substances
in our surrounding environment -- certain chemicals, smoke,
pollutants, solar radiation -- that trigger the production
of free radicals. Don't underestimate the threat free radicals
pose to our health and well-being. Scientists now believe
that free radicals are causal factors in nearly every known
disease, from heart disease to arthritis to cancer to cataracts.
In fact, free radicals are a major culprit in the aging process
itself.
By controlling free radicals, antioxidants can make the difference
between life and death, as well as influence how fast and
how well we age. The more you understand about antioxidants
and how they work, the more you will understand and appreciate
the profound role they play in keeping you healthy and happy.
Their role in the human body is nothing less than miraculous.
There is overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrating that
those of us who eat a diet rich in antioxidants and take antioxidant
supplements will live longer, healthier lives. In this book
I will tell you about some of these exciting, groundbreaking
studies, and I will show you how to use these discoveries
to improve your life right now. Starting today, you can halt
and even reverse many of the age-related problems that can
arise -- and make life so miserable -- when our bodies suffer
from an overabundance of free radicals and a deficit of antioxidants.
Scientists have known about the existence of antioxidants
for decades, but until very recently, we have not fully understood
what they do, how they do it and how to tap their incredible
power. Thanks to work performed at the Packer Lab at the University
of California at Berkeley, and in other labs around the world,
we have found the answers to these questions, and we now know
how to maximize and harness the lifesaving, life-extending
power of antioxidants.
Copyright 1999 by Lester Packer and Carol Colman; used with
permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Available wherever
fine books are sold.
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