Wednesday, August 4, 2004 11:56 AM CDT
Antioxidants found in fruits, veggies, nuts, grains help clean up cell damage
By BETHANY CARSON, Staff Writer
Gordon and Shirley Bennett of Argenta have had annual checkups like they are supposed to. They have been told to watch their blood pressure and cholesterol, but they have not been told that the sweet corn grown on Gordon's farm offers antioxidants that can help maintain a healthy heart.
"Anti-what?" asked Gordon, 80.
His 76-year-old wife, Shirley, likes to exercise and eat healthy meals. But when she added a powder to her cereal that morning, she couldn't recall whether it was an antioxidant.
Antioxidants are plant substances that help repair and protect your cells, which can be damaged by daily activity: breathing oxygen, absorbing sunlight and smoking tobacco, to name a few.
The American Dietetic Association compares the process of cell damage to a car rusting, said Laura Etchason, dietitian with Decatur Memorial Hospital.
Eating vegetables rich in antioxidants, then, can be like clearing rust from your pipes.
Antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables. They include but are not limited to vitamins E and C, lycopene and carotenoids. Phytochemicals and flavonoids can also act like antioxidants.
Carotenoids? Flavonoids?
You don't have to be a chemist to know which antioxidants are found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains. Etchason said eating a rainbow of colors each day could cover your bases.
"The more colorful your diet is from fruits and vegetables, the more antioxidants you're going to get," she said.
The American Institute for Cancer Research said Americans don't eat enough vegetables, nor do they eat a variety.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the potato is the No. 1 vegetable choice, but it's usually fried and full of starch. Green and yellow vegetables, two major categories of antioxidants, hardly make it to our plates.
Variety is key.
"Don't have the same thing for lunch every day," Etchason said.
By absorbing the antioxidants from a variety of sources, the different vitamins and minerals can help prevent or slow cell-damaging diseases, she said.
Maribeth King, founder of Mari-Mann Herb Co. Inc. in Decatur, said the ideal strategy against disease is prevention and nutritional supplements. She beat breast cancer while under the advice of her son, Michael King, a chemist and president of Mari-Mann.
King recommended his mother take 15 to 20 herbal and nutritional supplements, some of which were antioxidants, to battle her breast cancer. Without ever receiving chemotherapy, she has been clear for about five years.
On top of clearing toxins out of your body, King said, a good side effect of antioxidants is that they could help lower your cholesterol.
Etchason said antioxidants have also been shown to help high blood pressure and diabetes, but on a larger scale, they have been shown to help people with cancer or cardiovascular disease.
Although antioxidants aren't magic wands, all genders and ages can benefit from them.
"Anybody is susceptible to getting cancer or cardiovascular disease," Etchason said. "Antioxidants won't take your disease away. It's more for the prevention of the disease."
For those who don't eat vegetables, the American Institute for Cancer Research said antioxidant supplements alone can't replace the benefits of eating a plant-based diet.
Contact Bethany Carson at bcarson@herald-review.com or 421-6968.
Yellow and orange
Options to add color and variety to your shopping list are abundant. Yellow/orange fruit and vegetables can help maintain a lower risk of some cancers and lead to a healthy heart, vision and immune system.
Fruits:
-- Yellow apples
-- Apricots
-- Cape gooseberries
-- Cantaloupe
-- Yellow figs
-- Grapefruit
-- Golden kiwifruit
-- Lemons
-- Mangoes
-- Nectarines
-- Oranges
-- Papayas
-- Peaches
-- Yellow pears
-- Persimmons
-- Pineapples
-- Tangerines
-- Yellow watermelon
Vegetables:
-- Yellow beets
-- Butternut squash
-- Carrots
-- Yellow peppers
-- Yellow potatoes
-- Pumpkin
-- Rutabagas
-- Yellow summer squash
-- Sweet corn
-- Sweet potatoes
Source: Produce for Better Health Foundation
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