High Antioxidants Foods: Eat These to Protect Yourself From Diseases

If you want to stay healthy, it’s important to get a decent amount of antioxidants each day through the foods you eat and the beverages you drink.

What are antioxidants?

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, antioxidants are substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage. 

These substances can be artificial or natural. The good news is that eating a lot of vegetables and fruits is a good way to get more antioxidants into your body.

In general, through everyday life, our bodies are exposed to elements or free radicals in the environment. These free radicals can trigger the deterioration of body cells. This process is called “oxidative stress.”

Studies report that oxidative stress is linked to heart diseases and cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and many others.

But here comes the good news:

Antioxidants are fighters. They help the body fight oxidative stress and make sure it doesn’t cause any irreparable damage to your body.

Whether it’s plant-based foods or vegetables, quality foods rich in antioxidants can help you in this process.

High Antioxidants Foods

In this article, we will take a look at some of the foods that have high antioxidants. Let’s get started.

Oatmeal

Oats have a high level of antioxidants, especially avenanthramides.  Avenanthramides are a type of antioxidant that’s almost exclusive to oats. 

These antioxidants improve blood flow, lower blood pressure by producing nitric acid, and reduce inflammation. 

Oats improve cardiovascular health by decreasing cholesterol. The fiber in oats is more effective in lowering cholesterol than the fiber in wheat. 

Oats have avenanthramides and phenolic acids. Research suggests that these antioxidants prevent LDL oxidation with the help of vitamin C. LDL oxidation is a significant risk factor of heart disease. 

Blueberries

One recent research found that a daily intake of blueberries increased the natural killer T-cells in the body. 

These cells are white blood cells that play an active role in the immune system functionality. 

They protect the body against viruses and bacteria. The white blood cells identify these invaders and destroy them before they turn cancerous. 

Blueberries are also rich in antioxidants. This, in turn, helps to neutralize free radicals. These free radicals play roles that help in the development of cancer cells. 

 Artichokes

Of all the vegetables out there, artichoke is one of the best laden with antioxidants.

A study in the Nutrition Journal reviewed the total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs, and supplements globally. That review is the most comprehensive Antioxidant Food Database ever published.

The researchers found that artichoke one of the antioxidant-rich vegetables out there.

In addition to the high anti-oxidant richness, artichokes are a good source of fiber, minerals, and vitamins.

An average artichoke has about 7 grams of fiber. It’s also low in fat and a good addition to a meal if your goal is to improve good cholesterol and fats.

So next time you’re pondering which vegetable to add to your meal, choose artichoke.

Beetroot and Carrots

Flavonoids which can be found in fruits, especially in Beetroots can be ascribed to their antioxidant activity. 

They also help greatly with liver disorders. You could either add them to your salads or make a great beetroot juice from them. Tasty!

Carrots contain beta carotene, a powerful antioxidant that also helps in the cleansing of the liver and protecting it against toxins from the external environment. 

These two antioxidants help the liver with its cleansing activities and rejuvenation.

Pecans 

Pecans are a great source of antioxidants. It’s a wealth of healthy fats means that eating pecans can be a good way to improve your blood sugar levels. 

This makes it an excellent choice for people with Type 2 diabetes and battling to keep their blood sugars in check.

According to a study in the Journal of Nutrition, eating pecans helps to reduce unhealthy oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the blood.

The findings show that pecans contain naturally occurring antioxidants that may help improve heart health and disease prevention.

Ginger

Ginger is a root stem. Over hundreds of years, the traditional medicinal culture of the Chinese and Indians have embraced ginger’s anti-inflammation properties. They use ginger to cure nausea, inflammation and so on. 

Not only does ginger provide antioxidants to the body, but also it also contains detox remedies.

This means it helps to get rid of waste and toxins organs like the liver. This cleansing process improves digestion, circulation, and sweating.

Ginger is rich in antioxidants that help keep the immune system is a healthy state and aids in digestion. Don’t forget to add ginger to that salad dressing.

Dark chocolate

One of the many benefits of eating dark chocolate is that it is rich in a wide range of antioxidants.

Researchers have come up with a way to measure the antioxidant activity of food. ORAC, standing for ‘oxygen radical absorbance capacity’, is just that. 

The fundamental action that takes place here is the setting up of several free radicals against a food sample to see how well the antioxidants present in the given food sample can disarm the radicals.

Among the many food samples tested, raw and unprocessed cocoa beans were among those containing the highest amount of antioxidants.

Being loaded with tons of biologically active organic compounds, there is no going wrong with dark chocolate.

One study showed that cocoa and dark chocolate had more antioxidant activity than any other fruit. This test included blueberries and acai berries were among.

Fresh Fruits – Citrus Fruits 

Fruits vary in tastes, colors, and sizes. The amazing thing is almost all fruits do almost the same thing. 

In general, fruits are excellent sources with fiber, minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that help cleanse, rejuvenate and even detoxify the body. 

Be sure you add acid fruits (grapefruits, oranges, pineapples, etc) to your fruit pack because they do the most when it comes to detoxifying. 

Citrus fruits (Avocados too, though not a citrus fruit) are rich in glutathione, vitamin C, and other antioxidants.

They play a major role in the production of detoxification enzymes by the liver and the cleansing of it as well. 

You could start your day with some fresh fruit smoothie as a healthy snack for when hunger strikes during the day. Keep your fruits colored and your body detoxified.

Related: Juice Cleanses: The Ultimate Guide to Benefits and Side Effects