Antioxidants have for quite a long time been used as a major buzzword in various different industries, ranging from food and drinks corporations to beauty and cosmetics brands, mostly used as a marketing strategy for the purpose of getting to buy people more of certain products.

Nowadays we hear all sorts of acclaimed benefits of these molecules such as having powerful anti aging properties, supporting immune defense as well as helping the prevention of various chronic diseases all of which we will take a look at later, but I think it is worthwhile to first start with the basics: Understanding what antioxidants are and what is their role in our body and vitality.

Once we establish that, we can then start considering what good antioxidants do for us and what are some naturally rich antioxidant food sources that can bring us the acclaimed health impacts. This is what we will be exploring today.

My Writing Intention: To explain the idea and workings behind antioxidants in an interesting and understandable way and present the ways in which you can add more of these health boosting compounds into your life.

WHAT ARE ANTIOXIDANTS & HOW DO THEY WORK?

You may have heard of the term “antioxidants” before, but what does that actually mean?

In a simplified sense, an antioxidant is either a natural or man made substance which functions to prevent or delay some sort of cell damage. In other words, antioxidants are specialized “species” or types of molecules which maintain the health of our cells, by fighting against, or more properly said, “neutralizing” free radicals.

Free radicals in our body, are a different kind of natural compounds which in a simplified chemistry sense, are compounds which have an incomplete outer most electrons shell, which makes these compounds naturally very reactive and unstable. Because of this high reactivity and instability, in order to stabilize themselves, these free radicals essentially “steal” or obtain an electron or two from other near-by cells (Such as skin cells, muscle cells, blood cells etc) which in turn damages the vitality and DNA structure of those cells.

In this way, it is essential to maintain a proper balance of antioxidants and free radicals in the body, as an excessive proportion of free radicals, creates a condition known as “oxidative stress” in the body which is a state of chemical imbalance in or body, which results from a too high proportion of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) and a lack of antioxidants to defend against those radicals.

Additionally, long term oxidative stress has been shown to be able to manifest itself in many negative ways in the body such as increasing your risk of diabetes, heart disease, speed of premature aging and promote the growth of various types of cancers.

This is why it is important to maintain an optimal and health balance of diet sources antioxidants in order to counteract the negative effects of free radicals.

It is important to know and realize that free radicals are species which are continuously being formed in our body through a multitude of common activities and processes such as digestion and exercise. However we actually benefit from having a stable and not too large level of free radicals in our body; For example you immune system defense cells rely on free radicals to fight infections.

Additionally, many different voluntary lifestyle choices also increase the amount of free radicals in our body such as:

Smoking of cigarettes
Heavy alcohol intake
Excessive sun light exposure
Air pollution and toxin exposure
High intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids
Having high blood sugar levels
Intense and prolonged exercise
Types of infections such as bacterial, fungal or viral

While a regulated level of free radials in our body is not an issue and is normal occurrence, the issue becomes when we part take in many of the above mentioned activities which drastically increase free radical production. When those activities are coupled with a diet poor in antioxidants that is when our body enters oxidative stress which later on increases our chances of developing various other chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease along with premature aging.

BENEFITS OF A DIET HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS

When it comes to supplementing antioxidants, the effects and associated health benefits are much smaller and often even negligible, which is why nutritionists and dietitians always recommend to obtain all of these food molecules through actual food first.

One of the reason why antioxidants are much less powerful in a supplement form is because these chemicals tend to work best when combined with other nutrients, plant chemicals and also other antioxidants.

Most studies have indicated that focussing on intaking specific antioxidants in order to boost health has actually very minimal evidence of working or producing any positive health effect. As a result, researchers in this fields tend to focus on promoting a diet that is high in general whole foods, including fruits and vegetables of vibrant colors, which will ensure that you are getting the most important macro nutrients while also not missing out on vital micronutrients along with antioxidants. The key is to focus on a whole rounded whole foods diet instead of exclusively designing your diet around antioxidant rich foods.

That said, some studies have proposed that antioxidant consumption can benefit us in the following ways, although the results of other studies were conflicting or unclear here:

Prevention Of Chronic Diseases:
- This is due to the ability of antioxidant species to reduce the level of oxidative stress in our body which works to protect against diseases such as cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. This is also occurs, because antioxidants prevent inflammation levels from becoming too high in our body which in itself can be a leading cause for various chronic ailments.
Supporting Of Vision and Eye Health:
- Many antioxidants such as those from beta carotene (found in yellow / orange produce) has been know to have protective properties for your health, specifically when it comes to age related macular degeneration and cataracts.
Mental Health Improvements:
- Higher levels of oxidative stress in the body are often related to depression and anxiety which worsen the mental wellbeing of the individual and although making a shift in diet will not resolve this issues on its own, a colorful diet can help with stabilizing and improving the mood of these individuals.
Boosting Brain Function and Abilities:
- Since the brain is an organ which is metabolically very active, it is very prone to be attacked by free radicals. Because of this, consumption of a diet high in fruits and vegetables has been shown to protect the brain from various forms of mental decline such as memory loss, Alzheimers disease and other brain related conditions that worsen cognitive functioning.
Helping To Maintain A Healthy Gut Microbiome:
- Some research has shown that antioxidants have the ability to reduce the level of oxidative stress in our body by regulating the composition of beneficial bacteria in our gut, which can promote the growth of more beneficial bacterial strains in our gut. This can improve our digestion, mood as well as immunity as research is finding out more and more links between the health of our gut and our general wellbeing.
- Click here to learn more about the power of a healthy gut micro biome
Supporting A Healthy Aging Process:
- Although nothing so far has been found to genuinely be able to stop or reverse the effects of aging, antioxidants as discussed above, have been shown to prevent the mental decline of individuals (memory loss and Alzheimers disease), especially when it comes to elderly people, which can improve their quality of life in their older years and make it a more smoother aging process.
Known To Be Beneficial For The Skin:
- When it comes to our skin, antioxidants can reduce levels of inflammation within our body which can prevent against redness, puffiness and premature aging of the skin. Furthermore, antioxidants have the ability to further protect our skin cells from harmful sun rays, although wearing sunscreen is still recommended.
- Vitamin C, which is a common type of antioxidant, has been shown to be beneficial for the skin because it can help with managing skin de-colouration and boosting collagen production within our skin cells which works towards younger looking skin. This is why so many skin related products nowadays contain vitamin C.

ANTIOXIDANT RICH FOODS

Although our body does produce some its own antioxidant such as glutathione, the majority of antioxidants are derived from plant sources. This is because plants too need antioxidants to protect the well being of their cells since plants are exposed to a lot of ultraviolet sunlight radiation, which without antioxidants, would over time cause irreversible damage to the plant.

Some of the most important antioxidants which we have to obtain from our diet include:

Vitamin C (Essential for our health)
Vitamin E (Essential for our health)
Carotenoids
Selenium mineral
Zinc mineral
Various smaller plant compounds: Flavonoids, tannins and phenolic compounds

Some of the most rich food sources of antioxidants include:

Various berries: Blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, blackberries (Find our more about berries here)
Black coffee (Learn more about coffee here)
Green tea (Learn more about green tea here)
Pecan nuts and walnuts (Learn more about nuts here)
Orange colored vegetables (Sweet potatoes, carrots, squashes and pumpkin)
Dark leafy greens (Spinach, kale, Swiss chard etc)
Dark chocolate/ cacao
Artichokes
Red cabbage
Beetroot
Beans

You will also likely notice that the foods with the highest antioxidant content are also the ones which are brightest in color variety: Think about blue blueberries, vibrant greens of spinach, bright colored sweet potatoes and the purple hue of red cabbage. This is because antioxidants a lot of the times also act as pigment in plants. For example, Carotenoids are considered to be an antioxidant but is also what gives orange vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots their vibrant color and health benefits. This why it is advised to eat a varied and colorful diet

I hope that you were able to learn some new information about todays topic of antioxidants and that you found it interesting. I also learnt many new things while writing this post. As always, if you have any specific topic requests or ideas, please let me know.

Enjoy your day 💛