Rex Trulove
One term that is used quite often when it comes to nutritional benefits of some foods is “antioxidant”. Lots of people know that antioxidants can help prevent or cure cancer, but they don’t truly have much of an idea about what an antioxidant is or what it does. Why are antioxidants important in the diet?
Basic understanding of an oxidant
To understand what an antioxidant is, a person must first know what is meant by ‘oxidant’. After all, it makes sense that an antioxidant fights against oxidants. As it happens, confusion can begin right at this point.
Our bodies function through the natural process of oxidation. Rust is an example of oxidation in which oxygen combines with iron. The flame of a campfire is another example of oxidation, where wood is oxidized and heat is released as a consequence.
Oxidation in the body is the combination of oxygen with other molecules and substances. You can’t think or move unless oxidation takes place. In fact, that is why you need oxygen in order to survive. An oxidant, then, is anything that helps with the process of oxidation.
Obviously, oxidation and oxidants are needed for health. The problem is really with a byproduct of oxidation called a “free radical”.
Understanding free radicals
Without getting too technical, a free radical is an atom, molecule, or a fragment of a molecule that has either too many or too few electrons. Free radicals are harmful and unstable. A single example of a free radical of ozone, which has an extra atom of oxygen.
The problem with free radicals is that they are so unstable that they seek out substances in the body to bond with so they can become stable. This is called “oxydative stress”. The free radicals basically try to snatch electrons wherever they can. This can and does cause tissue damage. It is exactly this process that causes butter to become rancid if it is left out at room temperature.
There isn’t a way to avoid free radicals because they are produced naturally through normal processes. However, excessive numbers of free radicals cause aging, out of control cell reproduction (cancer), and cell damage. It might seem that there is nothing that can be done. This is where antioxidants become important.
The role of antioxidants
Antioxidants counteract free radicals. That is the overly simplified version of what is actually a very complex process in which free radicals are neutralized by giving them the electrons needed to make them stable.
An antioxidant is an enzyme or nutrient that helps to prevent or counteract oxydative stress. Among the most commonly known antioxidants are vitamins C and E, and beta-carotene. There are others as well.
Fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, and whole grains are all high in antioxidants. Tomatoes and carrots are especially well known for containing antioxidants. The body also produces some antioxidants, but for them to work, the body needs iron, zinc, selenium, and manganese. All of these are present in tomatoes and carrots. However, if the diet is deficient in any of these, it probably isn’t producing enough antioxidants.
Antioxidants are extremely important. Illnesses and symptoms such as cancer, heart disease, memory loss, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and cataracts are all linked to having too many free radicals and not enough antioxidants in the body.
The good news is that for most people, it isn’t hard to increase the amount of dietary antioxidants they consume. The following is a list of 11 foods that are highest in antioxidants, not including tomatoes and carrots, which were already mentioned. In fact, according to WebMD, they are the highest in antioxidants of all foods:
- Dried red beans
- Blueberries
- Artichokes
- Blackberries
- Prunes
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Apples
- Pecans
- Cherries
- Potatoes
If you are concerned that you aren’t getting enough antioxidants, eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly tomatoes and carrots, and increase your consumption of whole grains. This should increase the amount of antioxidants that are available to your body.
I think I do pretty well at getting my antioxidants. During the summer months I eat blueberries about twice a day. I also eat artichokes, prunes, and apples. I eat tangerines like candy. I also get them in supplements.
That is great! We also get a lot. We enjoy fruits of all sorts and eat a LOT of tomatoes. :))
Unfortunately, I don’t like tomatoes raw except on sandwiches and although I adore them in pasta sauces, I’m not supposed to eat pastas or much bread, so I don’t get many tomatoes these days. I do each a lot of other fruits. I usually have a salad for lunch each day when it’s warm. I think it’s about time to start switching to soups. I can eat tomatoes in those.
There you go, make your own tomato soup! Come to think about it, that is a recipe I can share. :))
Such a nice, informative and engaging report, offering lot of knowledge, thanks a lot my friend for telling us a lot today.
I’m very glad if the information is helpful and useful. :))
I know antioxidants are important and that’s why I’m glad eats a lot of tomatoes. Because I can barely get him to eat berries.
What makes it so easy is that since vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene are all powerful anti-oxidants, it is very easy to increase the intake. We eat a lot of tomatoes, carrots, oranges, green leafy vegetables, apples, and so forth, for instance.
I love everything on the list. Great information!!!
Thank you. That is the great thing about antioxidants; there are some really good and tasty foods that are high in antioxidants, so it isn’t hard to make sure that we get enough and people seldom need to force themselves to eat the foods. lol
Great article as usual 🙂
Thank you for your kind words!
A great reminder that we should all eat healthy.
Very true. What a lot of people don’t understand is that eating healthy usually also saves money on the food budget.
Another good , informative post Rex ..I always enjoy your posts 🙂
Thank you so much for the compliment! It is really appreciated.
Another informative and helpful post!
Thank you! I especially like it when it helps people. There are so many things that are misunderstood but don’t really need to be if people only took the time to explain. lol
Thats great post! Thank for sharing!
I’m glad that you like it. It is much easier to eat properly when we understand the terms that are used. :))
Great post, very well explained! I put a few blueberries in my green smoothies, but thats about it…can’t have many fruits on a low carb way of eating.
Neither carrots nor tomatoes are very high in carbs, so that could help. Also, just a hint, the most important part of a low-carb diet is the carb to protein ratio. If, for some reason, you need to slightly elevate your carb intake, simply make sure that you also have a corresponding increase of protein. A LOT of people could benefit by lowering the amount of carbohydrates they consume and increasing the amount of protein they take in (while eliminating processed sugar).
Well the low carb I do is 5% carbs, 20% protein and 75% fat. Too much protein can convert into glucose so I have to monitor that. Thanks for the tips though. Having only 20 carbs a day, I would skip the carrots…might have tomatoes in a beanless chili or something though.
Rex, That’s an excellent explanation that makes a lot of sense to me. We eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables – in fact I’m waiting now for a knock on the door that will be our weekly delivery of organic vegetables, which often include toms and carrots!
You are doing the right thing by eating plenty of fresh fruit and veggies, John. I’m glad to hear that you are being proactive in that regard. I can only wish that we had a delivery service for fruits and veggies here. :))