Antioxidant: the word pops up on countless products, from cosmetics to Cherry 7-Up. Is there a better-known (and more exhausted) buzzword in the health world today? Take a closer look at antioxidants and you'll realize that there are few foods found in nature that don't provide some antioxidant benefit.
But there's an important distinction between foods that provide serious antioxidant and nutritional benefits and those that are labeled as such in an effort to catch our eye at the market. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the choice of antioxidant-rich foods, it's time to learn the facts about antioxidants and put them to work in your favor. Their benefits are one enormous key to health and longevity that you can control!
A diet rich in antioxidants boosts immune defense, slows aging, prevents oxidative damage that can lead to cancer and heart disease, even reverses sun damage. How can these nutrients tackle such massive health issues? Antioxidants have the ability to stabilize free-radicals, the degenerative by-products of bodily functions, before they can cause stress or damage to cells that leads to a host of health problems. The more antioxidant-rich foods that your body receives, the stronger its free-radical defense. The body has other lines of defense against free-radicals, however those are thought to be limited and to decline with age. So you could consider antioxidants to be necessary health insurance, given our toxin-heavy, cancer-plagued world.
The term 'antioxidant' actually applies to vitamins and minerals that may already be familiar, such as vitamins A, C and E, carotenoids, flavonoids, polyphenols, selenium, lycopene and lutein. You've more than likely heard of these and already consume them regularly. But there are great benefits to boosting your antioxidant intake, as you can start to slow aging and degeneration right now, before problems develop.
Where to incorporate more antioxidants in our diets? That's the fun part, as antioxidant-rich foods are colorful, fresh, sometimes exotic and, more often than not, staring you right in the face. You might try judging the antioxidant content of a fruit, vegetable or legume by the color of its skin: the richer, the better. Blueberries, cranberries, artichokes, kale, raspberries, strawberries, prunes and kidney and black beans are all antioxidant-packed, as are whole grains, nuts and oils like olive, flax and coconut. Some studies have found the antioxidant levels in fresh, organic produce to be as much as 30 percent higher than produce grown with pesticides.
Antioxidants are also found in spices like cinnamon, turmeric and oregano, and in dark chocolate, tea, coffee and red wine. They exist in high levels in superfoods like goji berries, acai, mangosteen and spirulina.
Every serving of antioxidants helps with the constant production of free-radicals by our bodies. Recommended daily intake of antioxidants ranges from as little as five servings of antioxidant-rich foods to as many as nine for healthy individuals. But while antioxidants are beneficial regardless of the source, be it cherry soda or a pomegranate martini, the added alcohol or sugar that accompanies such foods detracts from the overall health benefit, even though their antioxidant claims may be true. Sugar is one considerable accelerator of aging, and both sugar and alcohol contain empty calories, so you may want to weigh the true health benefit of an 'antioxidant' cocktail!
Though whether or not you end up imbibing, remember that it never hurts to fit in an extra serving of blueberries tomorrow. You'll reap the benefits of a healthy diet now, and your body will thank you later.
