Antioxidants, Fats, and Your Health
You probably have heard of the term antioxidant. The idea of oxidation and antioxidants are very basic to chemistry and metabolism. It is important to understand some basic terms and their meanings when it comes to the idea of antioxidants.
Let’s introduce two terms that describe two basic types of chemical reactions that happen.
Anabolic reactions – means building up, when two atoms or molecules combine to form another compound. A good example of this is photosynthesis.
Catabolic reactions – means to break down, when a molecule is broken down into smaller components usually as a result of enzymatic action. A good example of this is glycolosis. When we spoke of the enzymatic reactions in section 2, we could have called them catabolic reactions.