Live Longer with These 10 Antioxidant Fruits & Vegetables

By Jean Sutherland

• Avocado -- One of the best fruits for riding the body of very destructive fat found in other foods. Containing glutathione this is a must have fruit for keeping cells healthy, high in antioxidants it is one of the best of the best. While fighting bad fat it is also high in good fat monounsaturated. Also has large levels of blood vessel protection, potassium.
• Garlic -- It's a herbal wonder worker. One if it's most important uses in the anti-aging process is its ability to help manage high cholesterol. It has powerful antioxidants that protect the body from "free radicals".
• Berries -- Blueberries have the highest level of antioxidants, also known as anthocyanins, than any other food. It has long been know that blueberries along with cranberries will help ward off urinary tract infections. One study has shown that elderly people who eat strawberries has the lowest rate of cancer. Rich in Vitamin C these are the best fruit for youth protection.
• Broccoli -- The best vegetable overall is broccoli. Filled with free radical fighters, beta carotene, vitamin C, indoles, querectin, glutathione and lutein it is the richest food sources of the metal chromium. Chromium protects against out of control insulin and blood sugar. For women it flushes the body of estrogen that can be cancer causing. Studies have shown that broccoli eaters have less lung and colon cancer and more important it protects against cardiovascular disease.
• Cabbage -- This is a cruciferous vegetable with very potent antioxidants. Studies have shown that cabbage seems to help defer stomach and breast cancer. The antioxidants in cabbage speed up the disposal of harmful estrogen. To achieve the best benefit eat raw cabbage.
• Carrots -- Our mothers were right. Beta carotene derived from carrots, its main antioxidant, is a full of potential for fighting aging and other diseases. A medium carrot full of beta carotene has been shown to cut the risk of lung cancer in half, even among people who used to smoke. Low levels of beta carotene in your system can lead to heart attacks, different kinds of cancer and are more likely to die or be disabled by strokes. It's long been known for its protection from eye diseases that come with aging. The orange pigment in carrots boosts immune systems. A cup of carrot juice contains a whopping 24 milligrams of beta carotene.
• Fruits With Citrus -- Oranges are the complete all in one fighter of anti cancer inhibitors that include carotenoids, flavonoids and Vitamin C. Grapefruit fiber reduces cholesterol dramatically and has been shown to reverse the aging disease of artherosclerosis. High in gluthionite fights off free radical damage to cells that cause aging.
• Grapes -- Grapes have over twenty known antioxidants that fend off oxygen free radical attacks that protect us from disease and aging. The largest amounts of antioxidants are in the seeds and the skin. The more color in the skin the greater the antioxidant properties. Red and purple grapes are the most powerful. Antioxidants from grapes inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol and cause blood vessels to relax.
• Raisins -- Also know as dried grapes actually have higher concentrations of anti-aging components, more so than grapes. Raisins have three times more antioxidants than a glass of white wine but only 1/2 of the antioxidants found in a glass of red wine.
• Onions -- Like garlic onions also have many anti-aging properties. They are full of anti-oxidants that help prevent cancer, most notable stomach cancer. They thin the blood, discouraging clots, and raise the levels of quercetin, inhibit enzymes that fight cancer, have anti-inflammatory properties, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. Quercetin lowers bad LDL cholesterol from becoming toxic and clogging arteries.
• Spinach -- Chock full of anti-oxidants it's easy to understand why studies show that it wards off a wide variety of free radical diseases such as heart disease, cancer strokes, high blood pressure muscular degeneration, cataracts as well as psychiatric problems. Lutein an anti-oxidant that's as strong as beta carotene is also a proponent of spinach. Consuming large amounts of spinach reduces the risk of macular degeneration which is a potential cause of blindness in the elderly. Eating 1/2 cup of spinach a day may slash lung cancer odds in half. Rich in folic acid, spinach is a brain and artery protector.
• Tomatoes -- Tomatoes are one of the richest and most reliable source of Iycopene, a remarkable anti-oxidant. It is a more adapt antioxidant for killing specific free radicals. More effective than beta carotene. New research show that Iycopene preserves physical and mental functioning among seniors. High blood levels of Iycopene are shown to reduce risk of pancreatic and cervical cancer. Cancer causing nitrosamines are suppressed by tomatoes. The only other vegetable that contains large has high amounts of Iycopene is watermelon. Cooking does not lower Iycopene levels at all. This means that even tomato sauces are also anti-aging.

About the Author:

Jean Sutherland is a columnist often writing about natural ways to boost your immune system. She also runs the poplar blog for seniors at www.alternativemedicinenew.org.

Article courtesy of www.goarticles.com.