Did you know that oxygen can harm you? That's right, oxygen is required to live, while at the same time can be responsible for free radicals. A free radical are unstable oxygen molecules that have lost an oxygen molecule that attack healthy cells to get it back. Free radicals have been associated with heart disease and the effect of aging.

Thanks to food technology, we know understand how antioxidant rich foods help to keep us healthy. Fortunately, antioxidants, from food and antioxidant-rich foods deactivate these dangerous molecules. Countless studies have shown that maintaining a high antioxidant defense helps to strengthen the immune system, protect vital organs in the body and helps to slow the aging process.

Free radicals begin to win the battle against the body and can cause oxidative stress associated with disease. This happens when the radicals outpace the antioxidants. So how can you defend yourself?

Eating antioxidant rich foods are vital to your health. A complex lab procedure called Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity or ORAC measures the antioxidant capacity of food. ORAC unit ranking measures how many oxygen radicals a food can absorb and deactivate (Ou 2001).

Research indicates, the higher the ORAC score, the better the food may be able in assisting the body in fighting disease and slow the aging process. Nutrition experts recommend individuals consume 3,000 - 5,000 ORAC units a day to reach beneficial antioxidant capacity in the blood. Just 100 grams (3 oz.) of Montmorency cherry juice concentrate contains over 12,000 ORAC units. Just 1 oz. (daily recommended amount) of the Montmorency cherry juice concentrate delivers over 4,000 ORAC units, well within the daily ORAC unit recommendations.

While finding Montmorency cherry juice concentrate can be a challenge, here are a few sources for cherries and cherry juice concentrate to get you started. If you enjoy eating fresh cherries with your morning meal, you can find fresh cherries while in season from Rohne Family Farm in Utah. They can deliver fresh cherries to you during the summer harvest. A reliable source for the Montmorency cherry juice concentrate is Traverse Bay Farms, based out of Michigan. The company offers cherry juice in glass bottles so you don't have to worry about plastic molecules leaching back into the product from the bottle itself. The company also offers free shipping for the cherry juice concentrate.

So the next time you are looking to help your body fight the damages of radicals and want to enjoy a glass of great tasting juice, drink a glass of cherry juice.