Antioxidants-the ACE up your sleve

Let just start with what they are and what they do.
Definition and role: - Antioxidants are substances, vitamins, minerals or phytochemicals, found in food that decrease the adverse affects of “free radicals”. A nice simple comparison - antioxidants are to free radicals what white blood cells are to bacteria – they mop them up and neutralize them.
Next obvious question is of course, what is a free radical and why do we need to mop them up? Without going too deep into chemistry 101, free radicals are a chemical entity which are incomplete, they have something missing, an electron to be exact and are created by many metabolic reactions in the body, along with stress, smoking and UV rays. The problem? - they are unstable and want to become stable by stealing back an electron from somewhere else. This “stealing” is what causes the damage, as often the electron comes from DNA, resulting in mis coding and cell mutations. Free radicals are associated with cancer, vascular damage/disease and premature aging to name just a few.
So the more antioxidants we have the fewer free radicals we have causing damage.

How do we stock up on Antioxidants?
The ACE vitamins, vitamins A, C and E are antioxidants.
Vitamin A - Found in Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, spinach, butternut squash, cantaloupe, mangoes, apricots, broccoli, watermelon and tuna.
Other functions: - Essential for eyesight (keeps the cornea clear), needed to enable vision in dim light, maintains healthy mucous membranes and skin. Also, has a supporting role in reproduction, growth and bone strength.

Vitamin C - Found in Oranges, grapefruit, Red bell peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, melons, broccoli, kiwi, raspberries, blueberries and Brussels sprouts.
Other functions: - Builds collagen, healthy gums, teeth and blood vessels.

Vitamin E- Found in Nut and vegetable oils, mangoes, blackberries, apples, broccoli, peanuts, spinach.

Antioxidant Minerals

Selenium - Whole grain cereals, seafood, Brazil nuts, dairy, fish and shellfish, legumes.
Works with Vitamin E jointly to protect cells and body tissue. Often found to be low in people with arthritis.

Zinc - Lima beans, legumes, nuts, oysters**, crab, yogurt, milk, cheese, sirloin steak and ground beef.

Antioxidant phytochemicals
There is more information in on these in my September blog post. Basically the best antioxidants come in the form of Carotenoids, flavanoids, and tannins. Note here that the Vitamins A, C and E are actually carotenoids.

Best way to get enough antioxidants.
1. Food first, as food, unlike supplements contain many other nutrients that we need to stay healthy like fibre and other important “functional” compounds.

2. Load your plate with fruits and vegetables - You will have noted that so many fruits and vegetables are mentioned above after the Vitamin names. That is becuase they are the best sources of all the phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. Colour is key here, the deeper, brighter the colour the better, as the compounds that create colour are usually phytochemicals.
Make sure you get a variety of fruits and vegetables as there is not one super food that does it all, you need to eat a variety to get the whole gambit of phytochemiclas, vitamins and minerals.

More tips
- Buy local and in season where you can – the fresher the produce the more vitamins it will contain. Long journeys deplete vitamin and minerals. Frozen is a surprisingly good option too, as the produce is usually frozen straight after picking preserving the nutrient value.

- Limit free radical damage so you need less antioxidants to mop them up – quit smoking, reduce stress, avoid sun burn avoid eating burnt food.

Other benefits:- you may find that stocking up on antioxidants gives your immune system a boost too. Getting enough ACE vitamins may not only make you look younger longer, have clearer arteries, lower your cancer risk but you may also get less colds!