Our Juice has Antioxidants!

Being a health minded shopper, almost every packaged food that actually makes it into my cart has some sort of health claim on it. Low Fat! Rich in Omega-3! All Natural! Organic! and the topic of today’s article: High in Antioxidants!

My husband asked me the other day what Antioxidants did – and though I know that they are good for me, I had no idea why. I looked online and found lots of articles on good sources of antioxidants, but only WebMD had a comprehensive article on what purpose antioxidants actually served. The following description relies heavily on that article.

Everything organic has cells, and those cells are subject to oxidation when exposed to oxygen. This natural and healthy process breaks down cells, and the body uses the food one eats as the building blocks to rebuild those cells. This rebuilding process is the reason eating right is crucial to your health – you quite literally are what you eat.

Through the process of oxidation, 1% - 2% of the cells don’t die, but the DNA in the cell becomes mutated, thus creating a free radical. Free radicals float along in your body and can attach to other cells which can cause those other cells in your body to reproduce improperly and without restrain. This is where disease begins, including devastating diseases like heart disease and cancer.

Now the antioxidants come in. Antioxidants can be consumed and are created in the body. Antioxidants capture the free radicals and prevent them from producing damaging cells throughout the body.  Some work by stopping the replication process from continuing.

While there are many sources of antioxidants, most humans are also in daily situations which generate free radicals, including exposure to pollution, smoking, asbestos – even the sun. Because the body is exposed to all of these toxins at a much higher rate than humans had evolved to handle, antioxidant consumption is a crucial part of your diet.




Some great sources of antioxidants:
Red Beans
Blueberries
Cranberries
Artichokes
Strawberries
Walnuts
Cloves
Potatoes
Red Peppers
Broccoli

This brings me to a point I’ve made several times in past which is that variety in your diet is extremely important. Vitamin C and Vitamin E are both antioxidants, but they work differently – C prevents free radicals from being a threat and E interrupting their reproduction and protects cell membranes. Additionally, because it is so easy to work antioxidants into your diet, there is absolutely no reason to turn to fattening juices or dried fruit to consume them. In fact, you can have a meal completely devoid of fruit and still consume some of the best sources of antioxidant on the planet.  Still Curious about Flavonoids? I will write on it soon, I promise!
­­­­­­­­­Jeffrey Blumburg, PhD professor of nutrition at Tufts University explains it best:

“We can’t rely on a few blockbusters to do the job. You can’t eat nine servings of broccoli a day and expect it to do it all. We need to eat many different foods. Each type works in different tissues of the body, in different parts of cells. Some are good at quenching some free radicals, some are better at quenching others. When you have appropriate amounts of different antioxidants, you’re doing what you can to protect yourself.”

I guess when it comes to antioxidants; Variety is the spice of living!

Next Time on Popular Excuses: Yeah they’re fried, but they’re still veggies – what is so bad about that?!?
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Reading List
seniorjournal.com - best sources of Antioxidants
webmd.com article