Latest Buzz on Foods Rich in Antioxidants

An Antioxidant a Day

By Dr Al Sears

If you were living in a primitive environment, you wouldn’t have to worry too much about free radical damage.

You’d already have a natural defence system already in place. In primitive cultures like the ones I’ve seen in Peru, Brazil, and Africa, the native diet contains thousands of antioxidants to fight free radicals.

In our westernized world, antioxidants are still the best way to guard against disease.

If you remember back to your science classes when you were younger, you’ll recall that a free radical is a molecule that has lost one of its electrons.

It will then go about looking for healthy molecules and try to “steal” an electron. The cells your body where this process is occurring can become injured. The cell may malfunction causing disease or even become malignant, causing cancer.

Free radicals come from normal metabolic function, but also from toxins, processed food or polluted air. You are exposed to potential sources of free radical production every day of your life.

So any time you increase your intake of antioxidants, you’re saving your healthy cells from damage.

To get you started, here is a list of the some of the best sources of antioxidants:

TOP 20 FRUIT, VEGETABLE, AND NUT SOURCES OF ANTIOXIDANTS
Rank	Food Item	Serving Size	Total antioxidants per serving
1	Small red beans (dried)	Half cup	13,727
2	Wild blueberries	1 cup	13,427
3	Red kidney beans (dried)	Half cup	13,259
4	Pinto beans	Half cup	11,864
5	Blueberries (cultivated)	1 cup	9,019
6	Cranberries	1 cup (whole)	8,983
7	Artichoke (cooked)	1 cup (hearts)	7,904
8	Blackberries	1 cup	7,701
9	Prunes	Half cup	7,291
10	Raspberries	1 cup	6,058
11	Strawberries	1 cup	5,938
12	Red Delicious apple	One	5,900
13	Granny Smith apple	One	5,381
14	Pecans	1 ounce	5,095
15	Sweet cherries	1 cup	4,873
16	Black plum	One	4,844
17	Russet potato (cooked)	One	4,649
18	Black beans (dried)	Half cup	4,181
19	Plum	One	4,118
20	Gala apple	One	3,903

Source: J Agric Food Chem.

It may surprise you that beans top this list. But as it turns out, beans, which are a good source of protein, are also strongly antioxidant. Not just in amount of antioxidants per serving, but they’re also high in proanthocyanidins, which are plant nutrients that have a lot of antioxidant power.

Studies show that the antioxidant capabilities of proanthocyanidins are 20 times more powerful than vitamin C and 50 times more potent than vitamin E. The antioxidant and other actions of proanthocyanidins may help strengthen blood vessels, suppress blood clotting in arteries, reduce the risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

If you add a bowl of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries to your breakfast, you’ll take in thousands of antioxidants. If you eat just a half cup of red beans for lunch, you’ll get almost 14,000 antioxidants.

Of course, that’s only a partial antioxidant list. Spices, herbs, and teas are also surprisingly powerful antioxidants. You will find the highest amounts in cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and peppermint. Oregano, sage, rosemary, and Indian spices like turmeric also contain high levels of antioxidants.¹

Also, remember that “pink” colored foods have a huge antioxidant benefit… it’s a little-known nutrient that might be the strongest antioxidant in the world, astaxanthin.

Astaxanthin is part of the carotenoid family of nutrients, like beta-carotene. Except astaxanthin is 54 times stronger as an antioxidant than beta-carotene. And it’s 65 times stronger than vitamin C.

Astaxanthin may just be the best antioxidant for DNA protection. It’s 6,000 times more effective for that than vitamin C, 800 times more than CoQ10, and 550 times more than vitamin E or green tea.²

Salmon is the best food source of astaxanthin. But buy wild salmon. It contains over 450% more astaxanthin than farmed salmon. Four ounces of farm-raised salmon contains less than 1 mg of astaxanthin. But wild-caught sockeye salmon contains a healthy 4.5 mg.³

You can also find astaxanthin in pink-colored seafood like lobster, crab, red seabream and shrimp.

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This Article is Provided by Dr Al Sears, MD

1. Wu X, Beecher GR., et al. “Lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities of common foods in the United States.“ J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Jun; 16;52(12):4026-37.
2. Bagchi , D. “Oxygen free radical scavenging abilities of vitamin C, E, β-carotene, pycnogenol, grape seed extract and astaxanthin in vitro“ Pharmacy Sciences Creighton University School of Health Sciences. 2001, June.
3. Turujman, S. A., Wamer, W. G., Wei, R. R., and Albert, R. H. “Rapid liquid chromatographic method to distinguish wild salmon from aquacultured salmon fed synthetic astaxanthin.” J. AOAC Int., 1997;80(3):622-632.