Antioxidants are natural chemicals found both in your body and in the food you eat.
Antioxidants act a bit like anti-rust by helping neutralise or disarm dangerous free radicals – highly reactive and unstable chemicals produced by your body as part of its normal metabolic processes. Infection, cigarette smoke, environmental pollutants such as smog and UV light, both from the sun and from artificial tanning studios, are also a source of free radicals.
If not neutralised, free radicals go to war on your body, damaging all types of cells, including DNA. It’s thought that the actions of free radicals play a role in ageing and disease, including cancer.
This is where antioxidants come in. They protect your body’s cells by ‘disarming’ free radicals and reducing their harmful actions.
Modern environments are rich with sources of free radicals and so they can overwhelm your body’s natural antioxidant defences, especially if your diet is poor. A diet rich in fresh, minimally processed foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and legumes means additional support.
There are literally thousands of antioxidants to be had from a healthy diet. Some of the most well known antioxidants include:
| Vitamin C | Oranges, kiwifruit, broccoli, capsicum, berries |
|---|---|
| Vitamin E | Nuts, seeds, wholegrains, avocado, vegetable oils |
| Carotenoids | Pumpkin, apricots, carrots, tomatoes, mangoes, green leafy vegetables |
| Polyphenols | Isoflavones; soy beans, peas, dried beans Flavonols; apples, onions, tea, red wine Catechins; apples, cocoa, tea Anthocyanins; berries, red wine, eggplant |
| Indoles | Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip |
| Sulphides | Garlic, onions, leek |
| Phytates | Legumes, bran, wholegrains |
Enjoying a wide variety of fresh, whole foods is the best way to get the benefits of all the different antioxidants. As one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants, an apple a day is a great start!
