The Top 20 list of antioxidants published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry shows the ranks of the capacity of berry foods, fruits, and vegetables to interfere with or prevent oxidative processes where free radicals are formed. Ronald L. Prior, a USDA nutritionist and research chemist based in Little Rock, Ark explains that berry antioxidants were ranked according to their total antioxidant capacity. Free radicals can be harmful to the body, especially if there is an excess of them. They may cause damage to the cell membranes, causing them to weaken. Because free radicals are chemically unstable, they have this bad habit of stealing electrons from stable molecules and in so doing, turn these molecules into free radicals themselves. The human body is incapable of producing its own concentration of antioxidants. For this reason, we depend solely on our diet in order to get the store of antioxidants we need to combat diseases. Antioxidants protect the body from harmful, excess free radicals, sweeping them up before they can cause damage. Modern theories of aging are generally looked at in two theoretical ways - the damaged theories and the programmed theories. The damage theories of antiaging primarily look at the damage that our cells incur over time. Hence, this aspect of antioxidant antiaging therapy focuses more on extrinsic aging, which is the aging process compounded by externally caused factors. Many forms of cancer are thought to be the result of reactions between free radicals and DNA, resulting in mutations that can adversely affect the cell cycle and potentially lead to malignancy. Scientists have also pointed to free radicals as the cause of some of the symptoms of aging, such as atherosclerosis, alcohol-induced liver damage, alpha 1-antitrypsin in the lung, and even emphysema. When there are eight electrons in an orbit, it means that that particular orbit (or shell as it is called) is full which further means the atom is stable. Stable atoms tend not to enter into chemical reactions. Because atoms seek to reach a state of maximum stability, an atom will try to fill its shell with electrons by: Gaining or losing electrons to either fill or empty its outer shell Sharing its electrons by bonding together with other atoms in order to complete its outer shell Free Radicals: The Formation The free radicals are formed when weak bonds between atoms are split.