Are you getting enough anti-oxidants? First off, let’s discuss the entire “anti-oxidant” term – it’s become so ubiquitous that it’s almost like background noise. The term is used as marketing verbiage on every product you can think of – from sugary drinks to anti-aging serums – if it’s touted as being choc full of anti-oxidants, we’re like to choose it over another less health-infused product, and yet remember it is a marketing term, which doesn’t necessarily deliver what it promises.
What the heck is an anti-oxidant anyway? I really wanted to get to the bottom of this because I’m not a huge fun of buzzwords, and I really don’t like my community to be hoodwinked into buying products with false marketing claims. So, let’s start with a mini-science lesson:As we age, Free Radicals are formed in our bodies. Free Radicals are molecules that are highly unstable because they are missing an electron. They spin around causing untold damage to other cells around them. It has to be said that free radicals are a by-product of normal bodily functions, such as the conversion of foods to energy, however, outside factors such as UV radiation, cigarette smoke, pollution and stress, can cause a lot more free radical formation than is naturally inevitable within our body. Are you with me so far? As we get older, there’s a lot of these nasty free rads causing havoc within our cells to the point that free-radical damage is now thought to be the cause of almost every inflammatory disease – not to mention premature aging. On a side (but very important note,) not all free radicals are bad. Some of them act as important signaling substances that contribute to your heart being able to pump more blood in high-stress situations.
Anti-oxidants are simply the good fairies. They fly in and kindly donate an electron to the crazy free-radical guy (notice I’m calling it a him,) in order to stabilize him, and minimize the amount of damage he can cause. Some anti-oxidants are naturally present within our bodies – duh – of course God wouldn’t create a anti-oxidant free body if he also created naturally occurring free-radicals! However, with excessive free radical formation (too much sunbathing and pollution), we might need a bit of outside help.
It’s been found that the best way that we can make use of external antioxidants is to eat them. Numerous studies have found that adults (especially those between the ages of 70-90), are significantly healthier if they eat a diet that is full of fresh fruits and veggies. Interestingly, it’s been found that antioxidant supplements don’t help at all, and in some cases can do more harm than good. This is probably because a food contains a number of different anti-oxidants that work together in processes that is recognized by the body, whereas a supplement like Vitamin E may just contain one antioxidant.
The takeaway is:
1. We don’t need to over-think it. If we stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen at all times, avoid cigarette smoke like the plague, and try to minimize our exposure to pollutants, we are going to minimize the formation of these rogue cells.
2.The best thing we can do is to eat a diet that is FULL of fresh, raw fruits and veggies.
If you want to know which fruits and veggies contain the highest amount of anti-oxidants, there is something called the ORAC score (Oxygen Radical Absorbancy Capacity), of each produce item. Suffice to know that you need to eat as much of the following fruits and veggies as possible:
Prunes, raw spinach, raisins, blueberries, Brussel Sprouts, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and really as many brightly-colored fruits and veggies that you can fit in.
Don’t forget dark choccy (over 70% cacao content), and green tea.
I’ll be covering the role of anti-oxidants in skin care in my next blog, but for now, load up on all that pretty-colored produce, and if you eat as much of it raw as possible, you get all those digestive enzymes thrown in for free!
BTW: If you load up on berries and spinach, make sure they are organic because these 2 items are heavily sprayed with pesticides.
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