Antioxidants

 

Foods Rich In Antioxidants: The New Rage

The new rage in foods are foods rich in antioxidants which are supposed to contain magical properties that will enable a person to live longer as well as stay healthy. The best foods rich in antioxidants are fruits and vegetables and often heard advice to eat one’s vegetables seems to be the best advice in this direction.

One may wonder what exactly it is about food rich in antioxidants that make it so good for people. The reason may be found in the presence of molecules that get into the body and react with free radicals and destroy or eliminate them. Free radicals are not good for a person and may damage cells and tissues within a person’s body and result in faster aging as well as causing other diseases. Foods rich in antioxidants would react with these free radicals and remove them before they can inflict any damage to the person. This is reason enough why one should eat foods rich in antioxidants so that there are always antioxidants available to the body when needed most.

Not Hype Or Propaganda

Most of the information available on foods rich in antioxidants is not hype or propaganda and there is enough scientific evidence to confirm this. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables every day would be most advisable and for those who may be averse to vegetables, there are many supplements available but one should choose from a reputable source and choose those that are a produce of plants that have plenty of antioxidants so that one is able to get a broad range of antioxidant molecules.

Most brightly colored fruits and vegetables are foods rich in antioxidants and these include leafy greens such as kale and spinach as well as other green vegetables that include broccoli and Brussels sprouts and red and yellow vegetables such as tomatoes, red bell peppers, carrots and squash as well as beet roots. Fruits such as those with plenty of color like pink grapefruit, berries, plums, oranges, grapes, peaches and apricots are all foods rich in antioxidants and two other foods rich in antioxidants that are quite popular are blueberries as well as chocolate and contain antioxidants that are much greater than found in other food items. However, blueberries and chocolates are quite high in oxalic acid that helps to bind to other valuable nutrients but makes them unavailable during digestion and oxalic acid is also irritating to the lining of the intestines and is also toxic in case too much of blueberries or chocolates are consumed.