Pioneering heart doctor Michael DeBakey dead at 99 (AP)

AP - When Dr. Michael E. DeBakey pushed forward with his groundbreaking research and maverick approach to medicine a half century ago, heart surgery was a medical marvel.

We need vitamins and minerals to make the thousands of enzymes, hormones, and other chemicals that our bodies need to work properly. Vitamins and minerals have another crucial role to play in our bodies. They act as powerful antioxidants that 'capture' the free radicals in our bodies.

Free radical - are unstable oxygen atoms created by your body's natural processes and by the effects of toxins such as cigarette smoke. Free radicals are very reactive and cause a lot of damage to our cells, but they are not all bad as we use free radicals as a part of our immune system to defend against invading bacteria. However, if free radicals damage our cells often enough they can cause genetic changes that trigger cancer. Also if free radicals 'work on' the cholesterol in your blood they can cause the artery clogging plaque that leads to heart disease. It's only in the past few decades that we've begun to understand how damaging free radicals can be and how important it is to have plenty of antioxidants in our bodies to neutralize them.

What are antioxidants?

There are three vitamins that are called antioxidants. These are:

Vitamin C,

Vitamin E and

Beta-carotene form of vitamin A.

There are other substances that are not vitamins which also have antioxidant activity. These include:

flavonoids (which are the colored pigments found in fruit and vegetables) and

trace mineral, such as, selenium.

How do antioxidants work?

Antioxidants are our body's natural defence against free radicals. Antioxidants are enzymes that roam around our body's cells looking for free radicals. When they find one, they take hold of it and neutralize it without being damaged themselves. The antioxidant enzyme stops the invasion and removes the free radical from our circulation.

In order for this to work effectively we have to have plenty of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and trace minerals, in our body to make the antioxidant enzymes that do the neutralizing. If we are running short on the right vitamins and minerals, we won't be able to make enough of the antioxidant enzymes. This will let the free radicals do extra damage to your cells before they get captured. To be sure that you have the antioxidants and other nutrients that you need taking an essential vitamin and mineral supplement is advisable.

Dr Jenny Tylee is an experienced health professional who is passionate about health and wellbeing. She believes that health is not just absence of disease and seeks to actively promote vitality and wellness through empowering others. She encourages people to improve their health by quit smoking, cleansing their body, taking essential vitamin and mineral supplement and many other methods, including herbal remedies. Visit Dr Jenny's blog and join her newsletter for more quality information.