What are antioxidants?

An antioxidant is a vitamin or mineral that helps to prevent or slow down the damage caused by free radicals to cells and proteins within the body.

Free radicals are produced naturally in your body and are perfectly safe if they stay below a certain level. They're an important part of your immune system. But more free radicals can be produced as a result of stress, eating over processed foods, illness or exposure to UV rays from the sun and pollutants such as cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes. And when the level of free radicals in your body increases, this can cause the cell damage that may lead to premature ageing and the first stages of diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's and heart disease.

Antioxidants include:

• vitamin C
• vitamin E
• beta carotene
• selenium
• zinc
• manganese
• copper