Antioxidants are believed to play an important role in preventing the development of such chronic illnesses as heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, and cataracts. Although antioxidants cannot completely rid our bodies of free radicals, they can however work to retard or minimize the damage caused. They are derived from molecular oxygen under reducing conditions, such as when a person breathes. However, because of their high reactivity, free radicals often participate in unwanted side reactions resulting in cell damage. 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. Antioxidant enzymes work in several ways. For one, they may reduce the energy of the free radical or give up some of their electrons for its use, thereby causing it to become stable. Antioxidant enzymes may also stop the free radical from forming in the first place. In addition, they may also interrupt an oxidizing chain reaction to minimize the damage caused by free radicals. To achieve maximum stability, free radicals therefore steal electrons from other molecules around them and in so doing, destroy the cell membranes and weaken the cell. Free radicals cause a chain reaction of "electron stealing" because the minute they start taking away electrons from other molecules, those molecules become free radicals themselves. Antioxidants are substances that work on free radicals, or more particularly work to counteract the damaging effects of these harmful oxygen byproducts. Scientists have linked free radicals to the development of degenerative diseases, causing massive cell damage that ultimately results in various disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and much, much more. This proves that while it is still early to say that honey can be a dietary antioxidant, it does point out its vast potential in terms of antioxidant properties. Principal researcher Nicki Engeseth, a professor of food chemistry in the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmenal Sciences, agrees with this.