Some antioxidants are important nutritional vitamins that your physique must perform, whereas others are important minerals. Examples of antioxidant nutritional vitamins embrace the immune-boosting nutritional vitamins C (present in brussels sprouts, crimson cabbage, and peppers), vitamin E (present in almonds, sunflower seeds, and olive oil), and vitamin A, which your physique makes from beta carotene (present in collard greens, candy potatoes, and cantaloupe). Examples of antioxidant minerals embrace selenium (present in Brazil nuts, pork, and turkey) and zinc (present in oysters, beef, and pumpkin seeds).
Then there are antioxidants that aren’t precisely thought of important vitamins however nonetheless have an affect on cells and tissues, Bradley Bolling, PhD, an assistant professor of meals science on the College of Wisconsin-Madison, tells SELF. You could find these in plant, animal, and different dietary sources.
Just a few examples of those antioxidants embrace carotenoid cousins of beta carotene, similar to lycopene (present in watermelon, tomato sauce, and ketchup) and lutein and zeaxanthin (present in spinach, romaine lettuce, and Swiss chard), chlorogenic acid (present in espresso, apples, and eggplants), flavonoids (present in berries, tea, and citrus fruits), and ergothioneine (present in mushrooms, tempeh, oats, and kidney beans).
What are the well being advantages of antioxidants?
As an entire, antioxidants will be useful as a result of they battle again towards that oxidative stress, which is linked to the large swath of well being issues talked about above.
After all, it’s vital to know {that a} multitude of things determines your danger of growing numerous illnesses—oxidative stress is only one of them. Analysis does level to a broad vary of well being advantages in individuals who devour extra antioxidants, however the NCCIH notes that it’s doable the advantages of antioxidant-rich diets could must do with a mix of drugs within the antioxidant-rich meals slightly than particular antioxidants themselves—to not point out different associated way of life or dietary components.
So let’s take a better take a look at a number of the analysis exhibiting a hyperlink between excessive antioxidant consumption and diminished danger of illness.
In a single examine printed within the European Journal of Diet, researchers labeled 23,595 Individuals into 4 teams primarily based on their antioxidant consumption.1 Individuals who ate essentially the most antioxidants had a 21% decrease danger of dying over a 13-year interval than individuals who ate the least, even because the researchers accounted for related mitigating components similar to individuals’ age, intercourse, and financial standing. (It’s price noting, although, that this examine was primarily based on a 24-hour dietary recall, or folks’s recollections of simply at some point of consuming.)
Analysis additionally signifies that prime quantities of dietary antioxidants could affect your danger of growing kind 2 diabetes and stroke.2,3 And in response to a meta-analysis printed in Essential Evaluations in Oncology/Hematology of 19 beforehand printed research that included over 700,000 folks, a food regimen excessive in antioxidants could cut back the danger of most cancers, with important reductions seen with colorectal, endometrial, and gastric particularly.4
There may be even proof to recommend that individual antioxidants are related to decrease dangers of specific illnesses, although it’s usually actually arduous to tease out particular relationships. Nonetheless, increased consumption of flavonoids has lengthy been linked with a diminished danger of coronary heart illness, and a current examine within the American Journal of Medical Diet suggests an affiliation with a diminished danger of Alzheimer’s illness too.5,6 And Dr. Giovannucci notes that prime consumption of lycopene seems to be related to a decrease danger of aggressive prostate most cancers,7 whereas excessive consumption of beta-carotene seems to be related to a decrease danger of breast most cancers (significantly, estrogen receptor damaging breast most cancers).