What about controlling free radicals in the form of prevention? Now, this is where antioxidant support comes in. Antioxidant support plays a key role in the defense mechanisms of the body. The most common antioxidant supports are in the form of vitamins, specifically vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E. This actually creates a chain reaction which could eventually lead to killer diseases such as heart disease and cancer, and even aging itself. The Top 20 list of antioxidants published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows the ranks of the capacity of berry foods, fruits, and vegetables to interfere with or prevent oxidative processes where free radicals are formed. Free radicals can be harmful to the body, especially if there is an excess of them. They may cause damage to the cell membranes, causing them to weaken. Because free radicals are chemically unstable, they have this bad habit of stealing electrons from stable molecules and in so doing, turn these molecules into free radicals themselves. Natural Antioxidant For years now, man has been dependent on nature for his source of nutrients essential for his health. Plants are where we get most of our foods and our medicines, relying on them almost entirely for developing our bodies to their full potential and at the same time reducing the causes of degenerative diseases. As an antioxidant, the flax oil's lignans can help boost the body's immune system, keeping harmful, disease-causing germs from damaging the cells. These plant hormones are also believed to block the formation of hormone-based tumors. Lignans also boost the productions of a substance attached to estrogen and carries it out of the body. But what exactly do antioxidant vitamins do? Oxygen radicals are everywhere because we live in an atmosphere that contains oxygen. Oxidation is a process that naturally occurs in the body and a natural consequence of it are the radical particles that have since been dubbed as "free radicals." Scientists point to these so-called free radicals as the culprits when it comes to most degenerative diseases.