The term antioxidant refers to a group of compounds found in everyday substances like plants which have health giving benefits to help fight disease. Phytonutrients are an amazing discovery; found in plants they have the ability to work with our body to improve its defense against disease and illness. Although only nine hundred if these phytonutrients have been discovered so far it is the scientist opinion that many more will be found and will change tomorrows health care needs; more are being discovered all the time and the whole area of nutrition, antioxidant foods and preventative health care is opening up.
Recent studies have indicated the phytonutrients found in fruit provide a whole host of natural health benefits; cherries for instance are able to reduce the pain in joints and blueberries have anti-aging properties.
The humble blueberry (famous for homemade pies) has very low sugar content while having many antioxidants that are good for our health. For many people eating fruit does not come easily but drinking the juice is much more pleasant and an efficient way to get the goodness from the fruit into our systems; many benefits have been found including an improvement in our circulatory system and an increase in our own ability to ward of illness.
The other properties of antioxidants include the ability to fight disease as well. The old saying about an apple-a-day couldn’t be truer with evidence that they can help prevent the chance of heart conditions occurring.
Now citrus fruits too are showing that they have a use with a number of beneficial phytochemicals contained in them. Tart cherries can also provide anti-inflammatory benefits to people who suffer with conditions that cause pain in and around the joints. Of course these fruits contain large amounts of vitamins B, C and E plus other which are already known to have beneficial effects on our health. Another group of antioxidants called Phytoalexins (resveratrol) found in many berries can prevent infection and have anti-viral properties.
The benefits of these extend too many of the conditions which are found to be more prevalent as we age like heart disease, Alzheimer’s, blood pressure and stroke. The benefit of tomatoes has been in the news recently with the hopes that it contains anti-cancer properties as well as those that can help prevent heart disease.
Although quite large quantities are needed so using tomato juice, puree or sauce which are all concentrates has been found to be the best way to increase the level of the antioxidants in our food. More recently the refreshing watermelon has been discovered to contain some of the most beneficial phytonutrients yet seen. We are told to eat more fruit and now there is a very good scientific reason to do this.
Find more information on health and fitness go to How to Lose Weight Naturally