The liver operates through two distinct phases. Phase one can be likened to a conveyer belt in a factory with raw unprocessed waste arriving on it 24 hours a day.

An intermediate substance very high in free radical activity is produced as a result of Phase one, and can be likened to a hopper at the end of the above conveyer belt, receiving the waste that has not yet been fully processed into its safest form.

Phase two of liver function has the job of converting this potentially damaging intermediate substance into a water-soluble form for safe elimination via the kidney. This can be likened to a fellow on a forklift picking up the contents of the hopper and mixing it with water to dilute and finally discharge it safely from the factory.

Under increased toxic exposure, Phase one speeds up whilst Phase two can slow down if certain critical plant based nutrients and amino acids are not present in adequate amounts to support it.

This can result in the intermediate substance overflowing into tissues and causing irritation and initiating the inflammatory process as tissue is damaged. At this point one may even feel “toxic”.

Anti-oxidants protect you from the free radicals generated from this liver stress to a degree. It would be better to reduce the amount of waste arriving on the conveyer belt of life in the first place by choosing healthy lifestyle options.

There are many anti-oxidants in nature. Many are Vitamins such as Vitamin A C and E. Others are in various forms like CoEnzyme Q10, OPC’s found in Grape seed, polysaccharides, Polyphenols found in Green tea and even cocoa contains different antioxidants. The most colorful fruits and vegetables have the most antioxidants. Berries therefore win hands down.

One thing in common is that anti oxidants are largely found in the plant kingdom and especially in fruits.

The latest way to determine the anti oxidant value of a food has been developed by the US Department of Agriculture and is called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. This is literally how well the food acts as a sponge to soak up the free radicals. It is a fact that those foods that occupy the express the highest values on this scale are fruits, and particularly the berries.