Antioxidants To The Rescue
By Monica McCarthy
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…. antioxidants to the rescue!!
By now most of us have heard about antioxidants. But do we really understand what they actually do?
Think of it this way:
Free radicals are the bullies in the playground that like to steal other kids lunch money. To make matters worse, in the world of free radicals, if a child’s lunch money gets stolen, they instantaneously turn into bullies themselves!
Now for the good news… Antioxidants are like superheroes that can intervene and replace the lunch money that the evil free radical stole!
Our bodies were designed to handle free radicals on our own. But if our superhero antioxidants fall asleep on the job or are surrounded by too many bad guys at one time, our cells can become damaged.
So what secret lair do these Free Radicals hide out in? Some common hiding places include pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke and herbicides.
The good news is antioxidants LOVE plant-based diets!
Here’s a list of the 20 Highest Antioxidant Foods:
- Red Beans (dried)
- Wild Blueberries
- Red kidney beans (dried)
- Pinto beans
- Blueberry
- Cranberry
- Artichoke (cooked)
- Blackberry
- Prune
- Rasberry
- Strawberry
- Red Delicious Apple
- Granny Smith Apple
- Pecan
- Sweet Cherry
- Black Plum
- Russet potato (cooked)
- Black beans (dried)
- Plum
- Gala apple
What are you waiting for? Show those evil Free Radicals who’s boss around here!