Final answer:
Vitamins C and E are antioxidants that help prevent free radical damage caused by exercise by scavenging and neutralizing these reactive molecules. Vitamin E protects fats from oxidation, and vitamin C acts in the blood, both working to inhibit damaging chain reactions. ß-carotene also plays a role as a provitamin aiding in this antioxidant defense.
Step-by-step explanation:
The two vitamins that may help prevent free radical damage caused by exercise are vitamins C and E. These vitamins act as antioxidants, which are essential in protecting the body against the detrimental effects of free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons, formed through metabolic processes and environmental factors such as pollution and radiation.
Vitamin E, or tocopherol, functions as an antioxidant by scavenging harmful by-products of metabolism like free radicals. In food, it helps to prevent the oxidation of fats. Vitamin C also acts as a strong antioxidant by being a radical scavenger in the blood, neutralizing toxic radicals with its ability to donate hydrogen atoms from its –OH groups, thus stopping potential chain reactions.
Besides, ß-carotene, a provitamin convertible to vitamin A in the body, works alongside these vitamins to bolster the body's defense mechanisms against oxidative damage. It mainly reacts with free radicals present in lipoproteins and unsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes. The collaboration between vitamin E and C is particularly noteworthy, as vitamin E, when converted to a less reactive free radical, is restored back to its original form through interaction with vitamin C.