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An antioxidant, pro-life diet

Whether you eat to live, or eat to live it up, here's how to come out with flying colours

PHOTO: REUTERS

CHOOSE RIGHT One should eat fruits and veggies that are rich in colour as they contain antioxidants that can neutralise free radicals before they damage your body's cells.

Why do I eat? That question has simple answers. Let's look at it slightly differently. When it's time to eat, what shall I eat? Now it is not a simple question anymore. The answer varies according to what you want your food to do. As far as current trends are concerned, the world is clearly moving towards foods with antioxidant properties.

Let's briefly understand what antioxidants are. They are powerful free radical scavengers. Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances that travel around in the body and cause damage to your cells. Many experts believe free radical damage is one of the most prominent causes of devastating cardiovascular diseases that can manifest as heart attacks and even cancer. Indeed, some experts have postulated the aging process itself as the result of free radical damage.

Neutralising effects

Antioxidants are powerful substances that can neutralise free radicals before they damage your body's cells. This is the major reason people have started opting for antioxidant foods.

Many of the foods high on antioxidants are vegetables. Tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers... are all excellent choices. The key is to focus on eating those fruits and vegetables that have rich colour. These are high in what is known as phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are nutrients concentrated in the skins of many vegetables and fruits, and are responsible for not just their colour but scent and flavour as well. Some of the foods rich in antioxidant properties are:

Berries

Full of fibre, minerals and vitamins, and loaded with healing antioxidants. Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are rich in proanthocyanidins, antioxidants that can help prevent cancer and heart disease. Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries too are known for

rich antioxidant properties.

Broccoli

Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, can help prevent cancer and ward off heart disease. Cruciferous vegetables contain a compound called indole-3-carbinol that reduces the risk of breast cancer and other estrogen-sensitive cancers.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are fast becoming one of our favourite modern foods, and for good reason — they can ward off certain kinds of cancer, prevent muscular degeneration and cataracts, and help maintain mental function as we age. Studies have shown that men who eat more tomatoes or tomato sauce have significantly lower rates of prostate cancer. However, it may be noted that cooked tomatoes are preferable, since heat allows more desirable antioxidants in tomatoes to be made available to the body.

Red grapes

A little red wine can keep your heart beating longer and stronger. Why? Mostly because of substances called resveratrol and quercetin found in red grapes. These potent antioxidants boost heart health by acting as free-radical scavengers, reducing platelet aggregation and helping blood vessels remain open and flexible.

Garlic

The "stinking rose" — perhaps the world's oldest known medicinal and culinary herb — is packed with antioxidants that can help fend off cancer, heart disease and the effects of aging. The sulphur compounds that give garlic its pungent odour are thought to be responsible for its healing benefits. Studies have shown that garlic keeps the heart healthy by lowering cholesterol levels, reducing blood pressure, fighting free radicals and keeping blood from clotting.

Spinach

Popeye may have thought eating spinach gave him strength, but it also allowed him to hit a nutritional jackpot. It is because lutein (an antioxidant found in spinach) is the main pigment in the macula — the region of maximum visual sensitivity — it can help protect your vision.

Tea

The most frequently consumed beverage in the world may also be one of the best ways to prevent a number of degenerative diseases. Tea has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and other diseases. It was originally thought that green tea had more antioxidants than black tea, but recent studies suggest that they are as beneficial.

Carrots

Carrots are loaded with a potent antioxidant called beta-carotene, a member of the healing family of carotenoids. Also found in beets, sweet potatoes and other yellow-orange vegetables, beta-carotene provides protection against cancer, especially lung, bladder and breast.

Incidentally, cooked carrots have considerably higher levels of antioxidants than uncooked, probably because heat breaks down the active compounds and makes them more available.

Soy

The enduring favourite of health-food aficionados, soy can help prevent cancer, lower cholesterol, ward off osteoporosis and lessen the effects of menopause. Additionally, soy can reduce both overall cholesterol levels and LDL (low-density lipoprotein or `bad') cholesterol levels, without affecting the levels of beneficial HDL.

Whole grains

Your morning bowl of whole-grain cereal may be a more potent source of phytochemicals than you think.

Vitamin E from grains is a potent antioxidant that plays a role in preventing cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Other studies have found that it can boost immunity, slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, treat and possibly prevent arthritis, prevent sunburn and treat male infertility.

So, are you game to try out antioxidant food?

RAKESH KUMAR

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