What Are Antioxidant Foods, and Free Radicals?
Antioxidant foods help your body fight free radicals, molecules which are destructive to your system, and can sometimes become carcinogenic. By supplying your body with all of the antioxidant foods that it needs, you are helping your system stop the damage that free radicals do to your cell walls, cell structures, and the genetic material that your cells contain. The damage done by free radicals can speed up many of the symptoms of aging, but that’s the least harmful result of free radicals. If free radicals go unchecked and continue to do their damage for too long, the destruction can get to the point where your body can’t repair it, leaving you more likely to fall prey to a major disease like cancer. Antioxidants, like vitamins A, C, and E, circulate through your body, crippling free radical molecules along the way so that your cells stay safe and unharmed. Eating antioxidant foods on a regular basis helps you decrease the damage free radicals do to your body, which is great news for your health. Read on to discover four great kinds of antioxidant foods, and simple serving suggestions that will help you make them a part of your regular kitchen rotation.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are great sources of vitamins A and C, two of the most vital antioxidant nutrients that battle free radicals. That makes tomatoes great antioxidant foods. The good new is that you probably already include these plump red antioxidant foods in your regular diet: the tomato is the most purchased produce item in the United States. However, there’s always room for more antioxidant foods in your diet, so even if you regularly enjoy tomatoes, try a new way to prepare these tasty fruits of the earth, and you’ll find a new way to fight free radicals. From sauces to juices to soups to salads, these antioxidant foods fit in anywhere!
Leafy green vegetables like kale and collard greens are some of the most nutritionally beneficial antioxidant foods. Packed with A, C, and E vitamins, leafy greens are like one-stop shopping for everything that your body needs to banish free radicals. Leafy green vegetables are advocated by many of the most familiar and impressive names in health, and have been for a long time. From Linus Pauling to Dean Ornish, the medical community repeatedly turns to leafy greens to bust free radicals. Leafy green vegetables can stand on their own as a simple side dish, especially when sautéed or braised with garlic, but they also add some extra complexity to soups and stews, especially thick concoctions like chili or split pea.
Fruits
Rotate fruits packed with vitamin A (like cantaloupe melons, peaches, and apricots) and fruits laden with vitamin C (like citrus fruits, strawberries, and blueberries) make great antioxidant foods. With so many tasty choices, you’ll have no trouble fighting free radicals with fruit. To make sure you have all the necessary tools at your disposal to get rid of free radicals, try alternating A fruits with C fruits as mid-afternoon snacks on different days of the week. That way, you’ll have a full complement of antioxidant foods, and you’ll never get bored with your dietary choices!
One of the best antioxidant foods is actually a beverage! To fight free radicals, just pour yourself a mug of green tea. Green tea is naturally packed with the mineral antioxidants that your body needs to polish off dangerous free radicals. Some of the fastest growing sectors in the antioxidant foods market are green tea based items, like green tea infused chocolate, but you can get just as much benefit from a simply brewed cup as from one of these gourmet foodstuffs. Try swapping your morning coffee for a tall mug of green tea; you’ll get a gentle hit of caffeine, and fight free radicals at the same time.
Reference:
- This article on Antioxidants from the Columbia University health advice column “Go Ask Alice!” offers an accessible primer to the science of antioxidants.
