Suppose that I told you there was a pill that would keep your heart strong, your mind sharp, and your body youthful well into your seventies, eighties, nineties, and even beyond? Suppose that I told you there was a pill that could extend your life and improve your sex life? Suppose that I told you there was a pill that could prevent cancer? How about a pill that could keep your skin supple and wrinkle-free?

Would you think I was a victim of wishful thinking? A weird futurist dreaming about a drug yet to be discovered? I'm not. I am a serious mainstream scientist, and the pills I am talking about not only really exist but are readily available. They are in your neighborhood pharmacy and natural food store. Chances are you will find them on the shelves of your local grocery and discount store. You can purchase them by phone, by mail, and by e-mail on the Internet. (You may have a few on your kitchen counter already-but you're probably not taking them correctly.) But their availability doesn't make their effects any less miraculous.

I am talking about antioxidants, a family of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that I have been studying for the better part of my seventy years. Antioxidants are the reason I get up every morning and go to my lab at the University of California Berkeley. Antioxidants are the reason I travel all over the world to attend scientific conferences. Antioxidants are the reason I have written hundreds of scientific articles and, now, this book. And antioxidants are the reason why, at my age, I have no plans to slow down. My name has become so closely linked to the study of antioxidants that I have been dubbed "Dr. Antioxidant" by some of my colleagues.

Antioxidants are a group of compounds that are produced by the body and that occur naturally in many foods. Antioxidants work together in the body to maintain our health and vigor well into the late decades of life. They do this by protecting us from damage caused by free radicals, which can injure healthy cells and tissues. The body produces free radicals in the normal course of energy production, but there are also substances in our surrounding environment-certain chemicals, smoke, pollutants, solar radiation-that trigger the production of free radicals. Don't underestimate the threat free radicals pose to our health and well-being. Scientists now believe that free radicals are casual factors in nearly every known disease, from heart disease to arthritis to cancer to cataracts. In fact, free radicals
are a major culprit in the aging process itself.

By controlling free radicals, antioxidants can make the difference between life and death, as well as influence how fast and how well we age. The more you understand about antioxidants and how they work, the more you will understand and appreciate the profound role they play in keeping you healthy and happy. Their role in the human body is nothing less than miraculous.

There is overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrating that those of us who eat a diet rich in antioxidants and take antioxidant supplements will live longer, healthier lives.

The Antioxidant Miracle, 1999, Lester Packer, PH.D., Director of Packer Lab, The University of California at Berkeley and Carol Colman, New York Times best-selling coauthor of the Melatonin Miracle & Shed 10 years in 10 weeks.