Antioxidants are chemical substances that reduce reactive oxygen species like free radicals and peroxides, thus as a result they prevent damage caused by oxidative stress in our body. Our body produces antioxidants like glutathione at cellular levels. In order to avoid oxidative stress and maintain balance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants, we must take sufficient antioxidants through our diet.

Some well known and essential antioxidants that we can get from fruits and vegetables are: 

• Vitamin A 
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Beta-carotene
• Lycopene
• Selenium
• Lutein, etc.

Apart from these, there are many important antioxidants present in plant based foods like polyphenols, flavonoids, etc. Fruits and vegetables that have a rich colour are good sources of antioxidants.

Though antioxidants supplements are available in the market, we must be cautious when taking them. Such artificial supplements should only be taken after consultation with a medical doctor. It is advised to take antioxidants from natural sources such as plant based foods as they contain a variety of antioxidants in sufficient amounts as compared to artificial sources that may contain just one antioxidant in higher amounts.

Once a woman enters adulthood, dealing with various health-related issues becomes a regular concern for her. Problems ranging from stress due to career or relationships to irregular menstrual cycles to mood swings to hormonal imbalances to reproductive and gynecological problems to regular illnesses are quite common among women these days. These issues can be the results of a stressful and unstable lifestyle, unhealthy diet and eating habits, lack of sufficient nutrition or some genetic reasons. 

What if there is a solution to some, if not most, of these problems, which most women almost certainly are bound to suffer from. It would be nothing short of an extraordinarily generous gift. Shatavar or shatavari, an herb found exclusively in some regions of Indian subcontinent, is that gift the mother earth has bestowed us with. 

Turmeric, botanically known as Curcuma longa, is spice that is widely cultivated in India and is used in its powdered form in Indian cuisine, religious rituals, and for various medicinal purposes. It is a source of chemical compounds called Curcuminoids, one of them called Curcumin is an active ingredient of turmeric and is responsible for its colour and medicinal properties.