Health Benefits of Antioxidant Foods

Several lifestyle, stress, and environmental factors are known to promote excessive free radical formation and oxidative stress, including:

• Air pollution 
• Bacterial, fungal, or viral infections
• Excessive intake of iron, magnesium, or zinc
• Alcohol intake
• High blood sugar levels 
• Intense and prolonged exercise, which causes tissue damage
• Smoking
• Toxins
• High intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids
• Radiation, including excessive sunbathing
• Too much or too little oxygen in your body
• Excessive intake of antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E
• Antioxidant deficiency

Prolonged oxidative stress leads to an increased risk of negative health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.

Antioxidants can be categorized as either water- or fat-soluble.

Although, water-soluble antioxidants perform their actions in the fluid inside and outside cells, whereas fat-soluble ones act primarily in cell membranes.

Important dietary antioxidants include:

• Vitamin C. This water-soluble antioxidant is an essential dietary nutrient.
• Vitamin E. This fat-soluble antioxidant plays a critical role in protecting cell membranes against oxidative damage.
• Flavonoids. This group of plant antioxidants has many beneficial health effects.

However, many substances that happen to be antioxidants also have other important functions.

For examples curcuminoids in turmeric and oleocanthal in extra virgin olive oil. These substances function as antioxidants but also have potent anti-inflammatory activity.

Antioxidants are essential for the survival of all living things.

Your body generates its own antioxidants, such as the cellular antioxidant glutathione.

However, plants and animals, as well as all other forms of life, have their own defenses against free radicals and oxidative damage.

Therefore, antioxidants are found in all whole foods of plant and animal origin.

Also, adequate antioxidant intake is important. In fact, your life depends on the intake of certain antioxidants, namely, vitamins C and E.

However, many other non-essential antioxidants occur in food. While they’re unnecessary for your body, they play an important role in general health.

The health benefits associated with a diet rich in plants is at least partially due to the variety of antioxidants they provide.

In fact, berries, green tea, coffee, and dark chocolate are renowned for being good sources of antioxidants.

According to some studies, coffee is the single biggest source of antioxidants in the Western diet, but this is partly because the average individual doesn’t eat that many antioxidant-rich foods.

While meat products and fish also contain antioxidants, but to a lesser extent than fruits and vegetables.

Antioxidants can increase the shelf life of both natural and processed foods. Therefore, they’re frequently used as food additives. For instance, vitamin C is often added to processed foods to act as a preservative.

Antioxidant Rich Foods