What Is An Antioxidant?
Coffee leaves are packed with antioxidants!
There’s lots of talk about antioxidants these days, but what do antioxidants really do? How can they support a healthy lifestyle?
We’re here to break it down for you! As our bodies metabolize food, are exposed to sunlight, and encounter a variety of chemicals in the course of everyday life, the body generates elements called free radicals. These compounds become magnets for electrons and in doing so, can cause cellular and DNA damage.
Antioxidants prevent the damage that free radicals can cause, by providing the electrons that free radicals are so hungry for. In other words, antioxidants help keep healthy cells healthy by preventing or delaying cell damage caused by those free radicals.
Antioxidants are not a true nutritional category in the way that vitamins and minerals are, but rather a quality that many compounds and foods exhibit. Many vitamins, including beta-carotene, C and E, are antioxidants, as well as the mineral zinc. Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of a wide variety of antioxidant compounds.
Our products feature Hawai`i’s own superfoods, which are rich sources of antioxidant nutrients. They include:
Noni - we use organic Hawai`i-grown noni in our sparkling noni and noni juice shots. Noni is widely recognized and studied as a powerhouse of antioxidant properties. Noni is a natural source of asperuloside and americanin A, both of which are potent antioxidants.
Coffee leaf - Our Kona Tea is an infusion made from organic Kona coffee leaf. Coffee leaf tea is packed with antioxidants - more so than brewed coffee or green tea! In particular, coffee leaf contains mangiferin, which has been shown to have analgesic, antidiabetic, antiviral, antiinflammatory, and memory improving properties.
Pretty amazing, right? As a company dedicated to supporting responsible agriculture in Hawai`i, it’s incredible to discover the abundance of health-promoting ingredients that are right under our noses.
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