"Antioxidants are naturally occurring substances that neutralize free radicals - molecules that are missing electrons and try to steal them from healthy cells to make themselves complete. "When a gang of free radicals teams up on a healthy cell, that cell becomes damaged and much more prone to degenerative diseases, such as heart disease or cancer," says Jim Baral M.D., a dermatologist in New York City. An antioxidant, then, is a hero that swoops in to interact with the free radicals and stop this sequence of events."

Because all of us have stress of one kind or another, it is important to eat and drink foods that are rich in antioxidants, like tea! Tea leaves contain antioxidants called polyphenols, which can prevent damage to our DNA molecules. Certain studies of more than 35,000 women found that those who drank at least 2 cups of tea daily were at less risk of developing cancers of the digestive and urinary tract. This is just one of the benefits of tea drinking. However, herbal teas, those teas with no tea leaves, such as camomile, do not have these health benefits.

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