10 Ways To Get More Antioxidants Into Your Diet
It’s no secret that antioxidants are incredibly beneficial to good health. It’s believed the antioxidants in food can help prevent cancer, reverse or slow ageing, enhance your immune system, increase your energy and improve heart and other organ health.
Given all we know about antioxidants and their beneficial properties, it’s amazing more people don’t get enough fruits and vegetables, the primary sources of antioxidants. Experts recommend a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, but say getting 7-10 servings is best.
There are ten steps to getting more antioxidants into your diet.
1. Breakfast
Breakfast doesn’t have to be a hurried toaster tart on the way out the door. Throw some strawberries, 100% juice and yoghurt into a blender; pour your delicious mixture into a cup and head out the door. You’ve just added one to three servings of fruits to your daily intake. Or throw some berries onto your cold or hot cereal. Check here for some morning meal inspiration.
Say you truly have no time in the morning and usually grab something on the run. Even the Golden Arches can be some help here. Order a fruit and yoghurt parfait and some apple slices. For about £2, you have breakfast providing one to two servings of fruit.
2. Snacks
Here is an easy way to get more antioxidants in your diet. How about a handful of raisins for a snack, or some fresh red grapes? Dip some strawberries in yoghurt. You’ll feel decadent, but the berries provide the colour you’re looking for. Need crunch? How about some baby carrots dipped in hummus? Consider a handful of pecans for crunch and a nice antioxidant boost.
3. Lunch and dinner
It might sound trite, but adding a salad to each of your main daily meals can add loads to your overall health and well-being. They don’t have to be boring, and they don’t have to be just salad greens. If you’re going classic, add some red pepper slices to your green salad, some tomatoes to the Greek salad, or tart cranberries to your field greens. Whip up a broccoli salad for lunch, or be adventurous and mix up a rice salad with a melange of fresh vegetables like string beans, tomatoes, peppers and red onions. The rule here is the more colourful your plate, the better.
4. Dessert
Berries, with or without whipped cream or chocolate, are an excellent way to end your day of healthy, antioxidant-rich eating. You can always top up your antioxidant intake with supplements to help you along the way.
5. Beverages
Replace your soda with tea or coffee, both of which boast antioxidant compounds. Have a glass of wine with dinner, or for a real change of pace, pour a glass of chai tea.
6.Think outside the box
We know we can get our antioxidant fix from berries, salads and the like. Researchers say potent antioxidants are also found in a variety of unexpected foods, like russet potatoes, artichokes, and small red beans. The beans, in fact, may have more antioxidant power than blueberries, experts say. So to your rice salad full of vegetables, add some beans for even more antioxidants. Variety really is the key here.
7. Cook lightly
You think you’re good at preparing vegetables each night for your family’s dinner. But if you’re overcooking the vegetables, you’re cooking out a lot of the beneficial properties of the antioxidants. Steam (don’t boil) vegetables, and stop cooking them when they will have all of their bright colour and most of their bite.
8.Plant a garden
Experts believe that people who plant and harvest vegetables from their own yards are far more likely to eat more vegetables and fruits than people who buy their produce from the store. So plant a garden, watch it grow and eat the fruits (literally) of your labour. You’ll be saving some money in the process, win-win.
9. Take your healthy diet on vacation
Too many of us consider going on vacation an opportunity to take a break from everything, including healthy eating. Think of Holiday as a way to be introduced to new foods. Order an interesting vegetable dish in a restaurant and then pay attention to how the chef prepared the dish. You can always adapt it to suit your taste when you decide to cook it.
10.Learn to cook
If you’re cooking, you’re not opening bags and boxes. Cooking involves scrubbing and peeling vegetables, preparing whole foods and paying attention to how things are cooked. If you’re ordering out every night, you’re far less likely to be eating the whole foods and natural fruits and vegetables that provide the base for our antioxidant intake. Take away, and fast food contains next to no Antioxidants and in general, has very little in the way of nutrition. Take out is okay as a treat occasionally but nothing beats the satisfaction of knowing you have prepared a wholesome, nutritious meal for you and your family.