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Oprah and probably your doctor swear by them. Antioxidant foods are taking over—as they very well should be. To clarify, antioxidants are the collective term for the vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and polyphenols that protect your body. Some of the best-known antioxidants are vitamins A (found in daily and fish), C (found in citrus fruits), E (found in seeds, oils and nuts) and the mineral selenium (found in meats and plant foods).

Antioxidants basically help prevent disease because they protect your body from free radicals (radicals are believed to be involved in degenerative diseases and cancers). So now that you know what antioxidants are and how they can greatly and vastly improve and protect your health, I’m sure you want to know which types of food are high in antioxidants.

Fruits—basically all your berries (blueberry, strawberry, blackberry) are all high in antioxidants. Try eating a cup of plain yogurt with some fresh berries on top each day to incorporate them into your diet.

Vegetables—no meal is complete with vegetables. Leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale are high in antioxidants as well as peppers, cabbage, artichokes and brussels sprouts.

Nuts and seeds—pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts and sunflower seeds all tossed together make a great high antioxidant trail mix

Legumes—broad beans, pinto beans, and soybeans are filling, easy to prepare and healthy.

Cereals—barley, millet, oats and corn are easy to find and high in antioxidants

Don’t be afraid to mix these foods together. Combine oats, nuts and seeds with some fresh berries for new breakfast ideas. Or try make a soup with different legumes and vegetables for a Fall time favorite.

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We were happy to see an article on glutathione in The Huffington Post, as this powerful antioxidant is instrumental in removing toxins from the body.

Humans actually produce glutathione naturally. It serves as a sort of internal fly paper for toxins and free radicals — absorbing them so they can’t do harm elsewhere in the body. Ideally, everything goes smoothly, and the body recycles glutathione so it can keep on fly-papering, however an excess of pollutants can actually halt this process, thus leaving dangerous toxins inside our bodies.

Part of the problem, HuffPost reports, is that humans evolved in a much less toxin-filled environment, leaving our species rather unprepared for the pollutants of the 20th and 21st centuries. About one half of all people lack something called a GSTM1 function, leaving their bodies unable to fully remove toxins.

To bulk up on glutathione, HuffPost recommends ingesting sulfur-loaded foods such as onions, garlic, broccoli, and cabbage, in addition to exercising regularly. For more tips, check out the full article here.

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We’re temporarily renaming our Eat This feature to Eat These, because you can never have just one grape. And with all the health benefits these tiny fruits have to offer, you never should!

So, what can grapes do for you?

Grapes are full of good stuff, including potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, and selenium – all very important minerals – and vitamins A, B6, C, and folate. Plus, the flavonoids in grapes are loaded with valuable antioxidants.

Plus, grapes have been shown to improve a number of conditions, including:

• Asthma
• Migraine
• Indigestion
• Kidney problems
• Alzheimer’s
• Cataracts and macular degeneration
• Infection
• Certain cancers
• Heart disease
• Constipation
• Fatigue
• Bad cholesterol

What’s not to love?

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When’s the last time you ate a pomegranate? Although less common than apples and oranges, these seedy fruits are loaded with health benefits. Check it out:

Antioxidants. Pomegranate juice offers almost three times the antioxidants in red wine or green tea. These can protect against cell damage, which is associated with a number of diseases including cancer. Antioxidants from pomegranates can also lower bad cholesterol.

Heart health. Pomegranate juice has been shown to fight the hardening of the arteries (linked to heart attacks and strokes, among other problems) and increase blood flow to the heart.

Combat osteoarthritis. Research suggests that pomegranate extract can prevent the degradation of cartilage, in addition to supporting healthy joints.

Fight prostate cancer. A study found that men with prostate cancer who drank a glass of pomegranate juice a day had fewer complications from the disease. In fact, none of the juice-drinkers’ cancer spread to other areas of the body.

Nutrition. A single pomegranate contains 40 percent of the vitamin C an adult needs every day, as well as significant amounts of fiber, folic acid, niacin, potassium, and vitamins A and E.

Inhibit breast cancer. Research in Israel discovered that pomegranate seed oil kills breast cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact.

Picture via globetrotter1937’s Flickr.

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You might remember chamomile tea from the classic Peter Rabbit stories of your childhood. In the stories, Peter’s mother brings him a cup of chamomile to help him fall asleep, but this tea is for more than just bunnies! Beatrix Potter must have known a thing or two about human natural remedies as well, since many people rely on chamomile to get a good night’s sleep, just like Peter Rabbit.

Taken as a tea, chamomile is a natural relaxant that can soothe your nerves and help you fall asleep. But chamomile does more than treat insomnia and nervousness; it can also relieve menstrual cramps, upset stomach, and irritable bowel syndrome.

How can one tea treat such varied conditions? Despite its many applications, chamomile really only does one thing – it relaxes muscle tissue, which means less tension and discomfort all over the body. For example, relaxing the muscles in the abdomen leads to decreased menstrual cramps.

Experts advise combining chamomile and peppermint to ease digestion, or adding lemongrass to increase the tea’s sedative properties.

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We all are advised by doctors to eat food that are rich in antioxidants. An obvious question that arises is what are antioxidants? Antioxidants are naturally occurring substances, like Vitamin A and Vitamin C that are found in various fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants prevent the body from aging process, heart diseases, cancer and skin diseases. Antioxidants help in the neutralization of the oxidation process in the body and thus, prevent the cellular damage, imparting agility and longevity to the body and cells. The antioxidants have also been found effective in cancer treatment and skin diseases. Antioxidants are good for the holistic health and the aim of this article is to enlist some best antioxidants. Read more on benefits of antioxidants.

Best Antioxidants for Skin

The first signs of aging usually occur when there are wrinkles on the skin. There are various antioxidants for skin that can help in decreasing the aging process. The effects of antioxidants are evident after a long period of time. Consulting a skin doctor before you incorporate any of the antioxidant supplements in your diet is always the safest option you can take. Here are some best antioxidants for skin. Read more on antioxidants: how they work.

Vitamins
Sun skin creams and lotions are rich in vitamin E and this is so, because the vitamin E in these cosmetics prevents the damage of cell membranes. It is believed that when vitamin E is applied before sun exposure, it helps in lessening the skin redness, swelling and sun burn. A vitamin supplement that suits your skin is a good choice, as an antioxidant. Wheat germ, safflower, corn, soybean oil, mangoes, nuts and broccoli are some foods that are rich in vitamin E. Similarly, there are Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and Vitamin A (1st antioxidant used for anti-aging) antioxidants, that one can use to control aging process. While vitamin C rich foods are cereals, beef, poultry, and fish vitamin A is found abundantly in potatoes, carrots, milk, egg yolks, and cheese. Read more on best antioxidant supplements.

Green Tea
A compound named polyphenols, found in the green tea is regarded as one of the best antioxidants. So, if you consume green tea in your daily life then keep doing that, as green tea is not only good for your skin care, it also helps in controlling free radical damage. Read more on green tea benefits.

Grapes
Proanthocyanidin, a chemical found in the grapefruit and grape seed extracts is known to have great effect on the healing of wounds and preventing the fat cell damage.

Some other best antioxidants for skin are as follows:
•Allantoin
•Copper Peptides
•Glutathione
•Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE)
•Panthenol
Antioxidants for Cancer

Cancer is related to the uncontrolled multiplication of cells and it has been found that antioxidants can at least prevent or possibly slow the free radical damage, that pose the threat of cancer disease. Here are some best antioxidant supplements for cancer.

Berries
Blue berries and strawberries are the fruits that are filled with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Proanthocyanidins, is the chemical present in the berries, that helps in reducing the effects of cancer. Read more on goji berry benefits.

Garlic
The most common and world’s oldest known herbal medicine, garlic is used as a supplement in the tea. According to studies, regular consumption of garlic slows and prevents the threat of cancer.

Lycopene
Tomatoes contain lycopene, a chemical that helps in reducing the risk of prostrate cancer in men. Some studies have also shown that lycopene can also help in the prevention of breast cancer.

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