Post No 8. What are these antioxidants then, and what foods are they in?

 

Strawberries growing in a greenhouse

The last post talked about free radicals and antioxidants and why antioxidants are so important. We all come face to face with free radicals every day from air pollution, industrial activity,  and many other sources. So what are the important antioxidants and what foods contain them?

Well we will start with the micronutrients vitamin C, vitamin E and carotenoids (e.g. beta-carotene and lycopene), but it is important when we think of these three to remember that there can be lots of other antioxidants present in a food that are beneficial too even if they are in micro quantities, so these headliners are definitely not the whole story.

So linking back to eating in colour our underlying theme what foods contain these micronutrients and are tasty too? [1]

Vitamin C: Broccoli, cauliflower, grapefruit, lemon, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes and bell peppers (among others)

Vitamin E: leafy greens, red peppers, spinach, sunflower seeds and almonds and peanuts (take care if you have an allergy)

Carotenoids: apricots, carrots, oranges, pumpkin, sweet potato, tomatoes, watermelon (and others)

plus three other types of antioxidant that are really important....

Selenium: e.g. Brazil nuts, fish, beef, poultry, barley, brown rice 

Zinc: e.g. Beef, poultry, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, lentils, cashews,   

Phenolic compounds: anthocyanins (blueberries, strawberries); catechins (tea, cocoa, berries); coumaric acid (spices, berries), resveratrol (red and white wine, grapes, peanuts, berries),  and Quercetin (apples, red wine, onions)  

So what is going in your shopping basket this week? What meals can you produce?

1. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/