Antioxidants: Are Your Cells Wearing Their "Superhero" Capes?

Today's blog comes from our resident nutrition superhero, Carrie Covington.  Here's what she has to say about antioxdants.

So we hear all the time the benefits of fruits and veggies, but why?  One big reason is because they help fight diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancers, atherosclerosis, arthritis, anxiety, and more.  Let’s learn what happens to make this occur.
 

First let's take a little chemistry lesson.  When a molecule loses an electron it becomes a free radical, which must steal an electron from another molecule to re-balance itself.  This in turn causes another free radical to form.  It is estimated that each of our cells get hit by a free radical 100,000 times a day. Wow!  Free radical damage is happening every second.  Some of this damage is due to natural cellular activities but also by pollution, smoking, fried and processed food, and even physical stress.  Poor eating habits actually speed up free radical production.  Some of this we can help and some, unfortunately is out of our control.

If free radicals are overabundant, oxidative stress will occur and then we see inflammation in the body.  When the immune system is constantly battling inflammation, the body becomes fatigued, weakened, and deficient in nutrients and enzymes.  That is when many terrible disease can occur… cancer, atherosclerosis, and arthritis are just a few. 

The good news is oxidative stress and inflammation can be fought by antioxidant nutrients which repair and prevent this cellular damage.  Check out the list below and see what foods are "super disease-fighting" foods.  I challenge you to add one food from the list each week. 

Rank	Food item	Serving size	Total antioxidant capacity per serving size
1	Small Red Bean (dried)	Half cup	13727
2	Wild blueberry	1 cup	13427
3	Red kidney bean (dried)	Half cup	13259
4	Pinto bean	Half cup	11864
5	Blueberry (cultivated)	1 cup	9019
6	Cranberry	1 cup (whole)	8983
7	Artichoke (cooked)	1 cup (hearts)	7904
8	Blackberry	1 cup	7701
9	Dried Prune	Half cup	7291
10	Raspberry	1 cup	6058
11	Strawberry	1 cup	5938
12	Red Delicious apple	One	5900
13	Granny Smith apple	One	5381
14	Pecan	1 ounce	5095
15	Sweet cherry	1 cup	4873
16	Black plum	One	4844
17	Russet potato (cooked)	One	4649
18	Black bean (dried)	Half cup	4181
19	Plum	One	4118
20	Gala apple	One	3903

 
So it's time to help your body put on it's superhero cape and fight the cellular damage from free radicals.  Step up, choose one of these fruits and veggies and revel in the power against disease!!

For more information on antioxidant nutrients and how you can help your body, set up an appointment with one of our nutrition specialists.  It's your body...take care of it from the inside out!!