This book explores the questions that need to be answered about antioxidants: What is an antioxidant? What do they do? Should we be taking them? How much is enough or too much?

Oxidants are naturally occurring chemicals in our bodies that are derived from oxygen to facilitate essential biochemical operations. Antioxidants counteract oxidative stress, which is the overproduction of these otherwise useful chemicals or failure of normal antioxidant mechanism. Oxidative stress has been linked to the development of many chronic illnesses. Smythies surveys and evaluates the current scientific work on this subject in detail and suggest that a high proportion of these diseases can be prevented, or their onset delayed, by attention to the proper intake of antioxidants in the diet. He examines the debate over whether this necessary intake can be achieved by increasing the about of fruits and vegetables in the diet or whether supplements are needed, and discusses the toxicity of antioxidants and under what circumstances they should be given with caution or not at all.