Happy Humpday Chicago!
By now everyone has heard of the term antioxidant and is aware that a diet high in antioxidant foods is an important part of a healthy diet. But why, what is it about antioxidants that make us healthier? What do they do for our bodies?
Here's the scoop...
Antioxidants slow the oxidation of other molecules in our body and although oxidation is crucial for life the process can be damaging to cells in our body. Oxidation is a chemical reaction in our body that produces free radicals in our body. The formation of these free radicals starts a chain reaction that damage and even kill cells in the body. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves. Natural antioxidants found in food have been thought to help in the prevention of diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease.
So, below I've listed 10 high antioxidant foods that we should all try and fit more of into our daily diets.
Instead of revamping your daily diet, slowly introduce one of these foods into your diet each day. By the end of two weeks you'll have added everyone of them at least once. The next week, try adding two in each day. Slow but steady wins the race!
Some other great places to learn more about healthy eating and cooking is right here on ChicagoNow in the Life & Style section at Jenna Bell's blog: Eat Right Around Chicago, Patricia Bieson's blog: Chicago Eats Allergy Free and also at a great website of a good friend of mine, Chef Ryan Hutmacher, owner of Centered Chef Food Studios
And if anyone has some cooking tips or recipes that incorporate any of the foods above, please share them, I'd love to hear them!
Have a great day Chicago, stay healthy!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tags: @lifefront, antioxidants, best foods to eat, healthy diet
Thanks for the shout-out Mark. I'm going to include a link of this in my weekly wrap-up, something I call "Play with Food".
No problem! My Pleasure, love your blog and thanks for the shout back! I'll have to check out "Play with Food". Have a great weekend!