"Copyright 1999 by 1999 by Lester Packer and Carol Colman; used with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Available wherever fine books are sold."

"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.

Reprinted here with permission. 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.

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