The Best Antioxidant Foods
Antioxidant foods are gaining in popularity today. Scientists have known for years that antioxidants can help many types of diseases. They can help prevent some cancers from forming, help with heart disease, reduce blood pressure and can even slow down the signs of aging.
The human body doesn’t have the ability to produce its own antioxidants, so this is why we must depend on our diet to supply them. The benefit of antioxidants is that they help protect our bodies from harmful free radicals. They act on them before then can cause major damage.
Understanding Free Radicals?
The best way to describe a free radical is that it is a chemical substance that is extremely reactive, when the body goes through the process of oxidation. This is because they lack electrons, so they tend to become very unstable. To induce stability the free radicals steal electrons from surrounding molecules. All this does is destroys the cell membranes making them weak.
In turn these free radicals set up a chain reaction effect. As they steal the electrons from the molecules, these molecules have no choice but to become free radicals too. This chain reaction causes major destruction which can result in you developing cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
The Oxidation Process
Oxidation is a process that occurs naturally in the human body, and there is no way to prevent this process. Everything you do, even breathing, causes oxidation. Free radicals are by-products of oxidation so they will always be present in your body.
The good news is that you can break this chain reaction affect and slow down the development of free radicals. This will help halt or slow down the development of any potentially dangerous diseases.
How Antioxidant Foods Work
Foods which contain antioxidants are your best fight to neutralize free radicals before they can further damage your molecules and cells. This amazing process is why further research is being conducted on the power of antioxidants.
Natural antioxidants have been grouped and named as follows: catechins, indoles, carotenoids and coumarins. These are just a few examples. These antioxidants are compounds which can be found in practically every plant on our planet, to some extent. Carotenoids are the largest and most well-known group and catechins contain compounds that are found in different types of green and black teas.
You have probably heard of beta-carotene, which is part of the carotenoid group and goes by the more well-known Vitamin A. This is the vitamin that helps keep your eyes healthy and reduces the risk of sun damage to your skin. Vitamin A is also helpful in reducing your cholesterol, helps to improve lung capacity and could help maintain a healthy heart.
Where to Find Antioxidants
Keep in mind that while some supplements do contain antioxidants, it is not necessary to use them. Antioxidants can be found in plenty of natural foods. You just need to know where to look.
Whole foods are your best choice when it comes to finding those rich in antioxidants. While you may wish to use supplements as an additional source, there is no scientific data to prove that these compounds are beneficial. You may be better off spending your money on fresh fruits and vegetables instead.
When shopping for foods look for these sources of antioxidants:
Some antioxidants you might have heard of include:
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B-6
• Vitamin B-12
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Beta carotene
• Folic acid
• Selenium
Some of these may be included in foods such as cereals and breads. The following is a list of whole foods to get you started, these would be your best choice for including in your diet.
Fruits
Berries are jam packed full of antioxidants and are one of nature’s best whole food choices. Berries are delicate in nature and full of nutrients including fiber, mineral and vitamins along with those invaluable healing antioxidants.
As you know there are different types of berries and each variety will have a different concentration. Elderberries and Black currants, which are purple have the highest concentration levels of antioxidants. These varieties are not so easy to come by though. Raspberries, cranberries, blackberries and blueberries are fantastic sources that will help improve your diet. These types are known to be full of proanthocyandidins which have been shown to help fight the war against cancer and heart disease.
Many fruits such as those in the citrus family are well known for the nutritional properties. Vitamin C is found in these citrus fruits while apples are a valuable source of Vitamin A. All you have to do is include a variety of fruits in order to boost your antioxidant levels.
The damage that free radicals do inside your body is called oxidative stress. This syndrome has been associated with heart disease and the development of cancers.
To get full value from these fruits be sure to eat them as a whole food whenever possible. Using supplements may not provide you with enough protection.
Dark Green Vegetables
All leafy green vegetables contain excellent amounts of antioxidants, the darker the green the better. In this group of vegetables you will find cabbage, broccoli, spinach, Brussel sprouts and green cabbage. These veggies have been shown to help fight cancer and prevent heart disease.
This family of vegetables is referred to as ‘cruciferous’ and contain a compound called ‘indole-3-carbinol’. This compound works extremely well at reducing your risk of developing breast cancer and estrogen related cancers, including cancer of the ovaries and cervix.
As you can see it really does pay to shop for whole, natural foods. These will be jammed packed with all kinds of antioxidants and will provide your family some of the best medical protection ever.