The Importance of an Antioxidant-Rich Diet

August 30 2013

The Importance of an Antioxidant-Rich Diet

When you are busy analyzing your diet for protein, calories, saturated fat, sugar, sodium and essential vitamins, it’s easy to overlook antioxidants. To make matters worse, most foods aren’t labeled as “antioxidant foods” in the grocery store. You must do your research beforehand to determine which foods contain these powerful nutrients. However, antioxidants play a key role in the body’s overall health, which is why they should be a staple part of your diet.

Free Radicals

To understand why exactly antioxidants are important, you must first look at free radicals. If this is your first time hearing about them, let me explain: basically, free radicals are ‘bad’ chemicals which cause oxidative stress in otherwise healthy cells. Although you can’t seem with the naked eye, free radicals are found in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even the beauty products we use on our skin. In small amounts, our bodies are fully capable of dealing with them. However, large amounts of free radicals will gradually add up and begin to take a toll on the body.

When large amounts of free radicals develop in the body, they will start a chain reaction that damages and destroys cells. This reaction, known as oxidative stress, is linked to cancer, heart disease, immune function and several other key areas of health.

Antioxidants and Free Radicals

So, how can you protect and deal with free radicals? Antioxidants have the opposite effect of free radicals, and consuming a diet rich in them will work to protect your body against oxidative stress. Antioxidants will actively search out free radicals in your body to neutralize them. There’s even some belief that antioxidants will slow down the aging process.

Some of the top food sources for antioxidants include blueberries, cranberries, kidney beans, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, apples, cherries and plums. As you can see, most berries are an excellent source of antioxidants, so try to consume more of them in your diet.

Of course, you can also use an antioxidant supplement for an even greater boost of nutrition. You can view some of the top antioxidant supplements here. Adding just one of these supplements into your daily diet will have a significant impact on your overall health.

Hopefully, this will give you a better understanding as to why antioxidants are important and how you can consume more of them. Free radicals are dangers chemicals that can lead to cellular stress and destruction; however, antioxidants work to stop this destructive behavior.