Antioxidant Fruits

Antioxidant fruits are not created equal. Some antioxidant fruits may have more antioxidant content compared to other fruits. Others may have nutrients with antioxidant properties, others may only have vitamins. But whatever the case, it is still quite clear that antioxidant fruits are good for the health.

The human body derives its energy from the utilization of nutrients and oxygen as fuel. But oxygen, for all its benefits and positive effects, may also carry with it some negative ripple effect. When processing oxygen in the body (a process called "oxidation), oxygen byproducts are produced. These byproducts, called free radicals, are highly reactive substances that may cause damage to cells. The antioxidant substances found in antioxidant fruits may work to neutralize these free radicals and in the process prevent them from causing damage.

Antioxidant Fruits: The Benefits

Many people are already familiar with antioxidant fruits, such as citrus fruits which are known for their high vitamin C content or apples for their beta-carotene. Consuming lots of antioxidant fruits in your diet will help boost the body's defense against free radicals and oxidative stress (damage caused by free radicals). Oxidative stress is a process which many a scientist has linked with the development of chronic and degenerative diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

Antioxidant fruits may be plain fruits, cereals, and vegetables. Some antioxidant fruits may also be taken in dried, powdered forms, like dietary supplements or pills. There is some research though that antioxidant fruits may be taken better if you actually include them in your diet.

Fruit, vegetables, and cereals in your diet have additional benefits compared to taking antioxidant fruits supplements. Scientists point out that this might be because consuming antioxidant fruits in food may provide a combination of lesser-known but potent antioxidant substances, which may afford greater effect than that of any single nutrient or individual antioxidant supplement.

In a recent issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the total antioxidant content of several antioxidant fruits, including fruits, berries, vegetables, cereals, nuts, and legumes, was analyzed.

According to their findings, the overall best sources of antioxidant fruits under the berry category are dog rose, sour cherry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, crowberry, blueberry, and black currant. Under the antioxidant fruits category are pomegranates, grape, orange, plum, pineapple, lemon, dates, kiwi, Clementine, and grapefruit. For legumes, broad beans topped the list while in the nut category, walnuts and sunflower seeds occupied the first and second spots, respectively.

Other antioxidant fruits include kale, chili pepper, red cabbage, barley, millet, corn, ginger, and red beets.

Antioxidant Foods

You're probably already familiar with antioxidant foods. If not your doctor, then you've probably heard about them more than once from your mom. "Eat your veggies. An apple a day..." Sound familiar?

While it's quite true that there's nothing healthier than including fresh produce in your diet, there is actually another reason why doctors insist on a healthy diet of fresh fruits and vegetables. The answer may lie in antioxidant foods.

Antioxidant foods are powerful scavengers of free radicals. The function of antioxidant foods is to hunt down free radicals and destroy them.

What are Free Radicals?

Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances that are produced when the body undergoes the process of oxidation. The reason that free radicals are highly reactive is that they lack electrons, which cause them to be highly unstable. To achieve maximum stability, free radicals therefore steal electrons from other molecules around them and in so doing, destroy the cell membranes and weaken the cell.

Free radicals cause a chain reaction of "electron stealing" because the minute they start taking away electrons from other molecules, those molecules become free radicals themselves. Massive destruction ensues, leading to such disorders as Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease, cancer, senility, and more.

How Antioxidant Foods Work

Oxidation is a naturally occurring process in the body so there is really no way for us to avoid or prevent it from happening. Even the mere act of breathing causes oxidation to take place. That being said, free radicals, as by-products of oxidation, will always be present in our body.

But what if there is a way for us to retard the development of free radicals? What if there is a way to break the free radical chain reaction? What if there is a way to prevent those diseases caused by harmful free radicals from developing?

Yes, indeed, there is a way. Antioxidant foods are powerful substances that can neutralize free radicals before they damage your body's cells. This is the major reason why scientists are continuing to conduct studies on antioxidant foods and the benefits that the body can incur from them.

Antioxidant Foods: Which Foods?

As mentioned earlier, many foods with high antioxidant levels are vegetables and fruits. Tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers - these are but a few of the many antioxidant foods out there. However, you should note that not all vegetables are high sources of antioxidant foods. Some vegetables or fruits may have lesser amount or concentration of antioxidant foods as other vegetables. For instance, white grapes don't have the same amount of antioxidant foods as the grapes used in making red wine.