Using Antioxidants For a Healthier You

I hear so much about antioxidants lately. And choosing foods that are high in antioxidants are becoming more mainstream. The reason why is that research is proving that antioxidant rich food improves health by strengthening your immune system, reducing cancer risks and slowing aging. Look at some of the latest research and identify certain foods that are rich in antioxidants.
Health Facts
Antioxidants can slow or prevent the oxidation of other molecules. This is important because oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which can cause cancer. They also can keep cells healthy, which important for many aspects of health in the human body. Many studies have found that eating berries, fruit, and tea that are rich in antioxidants can make you healthier and can cure some diseases. For example, The University of Florida found, in a cell-culture model, that the tropical berry called açaí (pronounced ahh-sigh-ee) causes leukemia cells kill themselves. The berry worked in up to 86 percent of the tests according to the study by Alexander G. Schauss, Ronald L. Prior, Xianli Wu, Boxin Ou, Dejian Huang,Dinesh Patel, and James P. Kababick in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,12 Jan 2006, pp 8598 - 8603. Foods high in antioxidants have also been found to have the ability to keep skin cells healthier, longer. This helps to prevent aging and cancer.
Food High in Antioxidants
There are many foods that you can eat that contain high levels of antioxidants. Berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and black berries are all good choices. Pomegranates are also a good choice. Many popular antioxidant drinks contain pomegranate juice. Most teas contain high levels of antioxidants. Teas that contain the most antioxidants are green and white teas. Letting teas steep for a long time yields the greatest benefits from them. Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants. That's right, chocolate can be good for you! The darker chocolates with the highest concentrations of cocoa have the most antioxidants and are the best choice. Choose chocolates that have at least 60% cocoa.
Alcohol and Antioxidants
Drinking a little is a great way to boost the power of antioxidants. According to researchers Korakot Chanjirakul, Shiow Y Wang, Chien Y Wang, and Jingtair Siriphanich at the United States Department of Agriculture and the Kasetsart University in Thailand, adding alcohol to antioxidant-rich berries increases their antioxidant capacity. This finding was published in the study Natural Volatile Treatments Increase Free-radical Scavenging Capacity of Strawberries and Blackberries. One way to use this finding is to make cocktails and mixed drinks out of 100% berry juice. How about a Mona Vie cocktail?

About the Author
Lana Hawkins is the author of Fit, Healthy Self Blog at http://FitHealthySelf.com/blog . She publishes new fitness and health information you need to prolong and improve your life. Looking for a 30 minute exercise plan that gets you strength and cardio benefits at once? Fit, Healthy Self http://FitHealthySelf.com has all you need to get and stay healthy. Sign up for the Free Fitness Report at the bottom of the page.