Food in Health Preservation and Promotion: A Special Focus on the Interplay between Oxidative Stress and Pro-Oxidant/Antioxidant

Introduction

Good health is elemental to living a productive life, meeting basic needs and contributing to healthy society. The components of health are numerous and their interactions with food are complex. Healthy diet is essential for the success of physical and mental potential for all individuals. Good food, physical activity and healthy lifestyle are the basic requirement for preservation and promotion of health. A good diet is about receiving the correct amount of nutrients, bioactive molecules to maintain good health. Foods not only contain protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals but also supply essential biomolecules like antioxidants which are boosting our health. A good food can support human health and improve health potential, and yet can also be an important factor influencing ill health.

In 1980s the name antioxidants came into spotlight when it identified as miracle substances for good health. Food contains numerous biomolecule (antioxidant), which prevent free radical induce diseases, increase immunity and also act as anti-aging molecule. Regular intake of fruits and vegetables has also been shown to protect human from number of diseases, and concurrent scientific investigations have confirmed that antioxidant substances present in those fruits and vegetables are playing a central role for their beneficial effect (Wahlqvist, 2013; Sen & Chakraborty, 2015). Fruits, vegetables and other food can boost the antioxidant capacity of body and thus helpful for human.