Food For Thought
Antioxidants – Give Your Body a Fighting Chance
by Leanne Ely, CNC
A word that you all have probably heard used over and over again is antioxidants. What is so great about antioxidants that inspire incessant repetition in the nutritional world? Let me give you a picture first–take a shiny new bike, leave it out in the rain and what happens? It rusts. Now that you have that in mind, keep reading.
When our body produces oxygen it leaves behind by-products called free radicals that can cause oxidative damage when left unattended. Some health problems that are direct results of oxidative damage are: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and macular degeneration. Remember that bike? Oxidative stress is another way of saying “rust”.
To fix the “rust”, you send in the antioxidants. Antioxidants essentially hunt the free radicals that cause the rust, lowers our risk and amplifies our immune defense. Cool, huh?
I tell you all the time to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, not because I’m a broken record, but because I’m trying to thoroughly arm you against this ongoing battle you, me and every other human on the planet will always face. It’s a battle that needs fighting daily.
When you add a variety of fruits and veggies (berries and beans are especially high in antioxidants) to every meal as much as possible, you put antioxidants to good work, cleaning up the oxidative mess left behind by free radicals. Keep this in mind the next time you’re at a farmer’s market or at your grocery store–hit up the produce hard!
Did you know that each week our Menu-Mailer has a wide variety of veggies in it? Just sayin’. Check it out, HERE!!