Antioxidant health drinks have become a trend and are so abundant and confusing that most people simply throw their hands in the air and grab a soft drink or energy drink (both of which are terribly harmful to the body). On other occasions they pick the first choice that is in front of them. The solution in making the best choice is to first have all the facts.

Let's begin with understanding what exactly an antioxidant is. During cellular metabolism there are byproducts that are resultant in the same fashion as a car emits exhaust. This auto exhaust is damaging to its environment as are the left over free radical components are to their environment (the body) by damaging the cells walls and possibly corrupting the DNA. Damaging the cell wall is bad enough as the cell can be destroyed but damaging the DNA is even worse.

Let's pretend, for example, that the continuous cell renewal process of creating 300 billion new cells every day to replace dying cells is akin to building a home. And let's say one day a contractor comes into the office, sits on the desk where the blueprints are laying, then spills coffee onto those blue prints. Low and behold the next week the garage door is installed on the roof of the building. His inquiry with the door company yields the explanation of, "well, that is where the blueprints indicated to put the door".

The human body is the same way except the corrupted blue prints lead to abnormal cells that, through replication, spin out of proliferate at a speed that results in cancer. Free radical damage also leads to the inflammation that is responsible for (according to Time Magazine, Feb, 2005) Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, arthritis, heart disease, and many other maladies.

Antioxidants have properties that eradicate these free radicals. The magnitude of free radical damage in our day is one pass of a bus on a city street while you are breathing emits more free radicals into your lungs than your ancestors experienced in an entire lifetime. And that is why antioxidants are critically important to our health.

There are bizarre antioxidant claims made by antioxidant health drink companies than don't measure up. One of the newest gimmick companies in the marketplace touts their chocolate drink as an antioxidant. This is lunacy considering the damaging effects of all the sugar that may lead to insulin resistance or Type II diabetes. Another makes a claim that the Acai berry, discovered in Brazil and marketed in an expensive bottle, is a totally complete antioxidant source with wicked healing powers. Again, when understanding the evolution of the human DNA, there is no one food that accomplishes everything the body needs in terms of antioxidants as there are countless antioxidants that accomplish various things.

One of the best known brain foods known are blueberries as they contain an antioxidant with protective qualities for the brain. Pomegranate has known antioxidant properties that positively impact cardiac blood flow, prostate protection, and erectile dysfunction.

When we are talking in terms of fruit juice as an antioxidant health drink there is a downside to them. That problem is that the pulp that slows the absorption of the sugars and helps avoid insulin spikes has been removed from the fruit. When choosing an antioxidant health drink you need to be sure to evaluate the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) factor. The USDA claims that 7000 ORAC units, daily, are necessary just to keep cancer at bay. The basic American diet yields approximately 1700. It is, therefore, crucial to remember to ingest the proper food and/or an antioxidant health drink everyday to minimize the damage.

The best overall purchase is a well rounded product that consists of many different antioxidant sources from herbs, berries, and other known natural foods.