Antioxidants: How they work. Dark Chocolate vs Acai Berry vs Pomegranate vs Red Wine vs Blueberries
CHART: bit.ly … So? It’s your turn to do some work! COMMENT! =P jbni.us is the producer of this video and Noagin, the Super-Antioxidant containing astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein. Antioxidants Dark Chocolate vs Acai Berry vs Pomegranate vs Red Wine vs Blueberries
Pomegranate contains powerful antioxidants
Pomegranate contains powerful antioxidants video
Raise Your Pom Pom Pomegranates
They are such a healthful fruit but so messy to release the sweet seeds from their intricate weavings. Meghan shows off an easy solution to this challenge. Read all about the healthy benefits of Pomegranates at www.meghantelpnerblog.com
Have You Discovered the Pomegranate Yet?
We live in a world where extremely high levels of productivity and performance are needed to survive and move up in the urban jungle. One of the biggest drawbacks of this immense competition has to be the effect of stress on human health. In many cases, extremely high productivity is achieved at the cost of putting the body on the line, physically or mentally. However, nature offers us treatment against these health drawbacks. Among them comes in the form of fruit. Studies have shown that pomegranates have beneficial effects on health. Thanks to the many antioxidants which can be found in pomegranates, this fruit is highly nutritious. The pomegranate is, for some, an uncommon fruit. However, the powers of these fruits filled with seeds (also known as ‘arils’) should not be underestimated. The pomegranate offers the body vitamins and important minerals. Nutritious and delicious, pomegranates should have a substantial role in the day to day diet.
What are pomegranates?
Pomegranate is the fruit of a shrub that grows primarily in warn climate regions and has been cultivated in parts of Mediterranean and Asia for a long time now, although it’s cultivated in virtually every part of the world where the climate allows.The fruit is characterized by its rather tough exterior peel which encloses a large number of seeds. Folk Mythology indicates that the fruit has 365 seeds although observation suggests that the total number of seeds can vary from 329 to 1000
Benefits of pomegranates
Pomegranate is rich in Vitamin C, Folic Acid and Polyphenols which are the basis of the claim that pomegranate being rich in nutrients. Polyphenols find use as anti-oxidizing agents and remove free radicals from the human skin that help in strengthening the human immune system, along with having anti-inflammatory benefits. One of the most publicized benefits of pomegranate is that it helps slow down skin wrinkling. Because of this, pomegranate finds extensive use in anti-aging creams. Recent research has also shown that pomegranate can help reduce the deterioration of cartilage, helping slow down osteoarthritis. And extensive studies have also shown that pomegranate helps increase the blood flow to the heart helping those affected with ischermic heart disease.
With so many benefits of the seeded fruit coming to light, one can infer that Mediterranean fruit pomegranate does indeed have significant health effects. Pomegranate can be consumed in raw form or in the form of a concentrated juice, which is both nutritious and tasty. In addition, pomegranate health supplements are available in the form of tablets, which remove the less useful ingredients of the fruit such as sugar and calories. So go ahead and grab this Mediterranean delight and take a step ahead for a much healthier tomorrow.
Consume Bright Colored Foods For Better Health
A plate of colored food is not only very pleasing to our eyes, but also very healthy. What looks good to eat is also very healthy for us and if you are finding it difficult to persuade your children to eat those boring old tired looking vegetables, then try brightening up their plates with some nice bright colors.
Kids love brightly colored pop and candy so it should not be a difficult thing to persuade them to eat some brightly colored vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, quashes and even thinly sliced carrots with a nice dip. The more intense the color the better for you they appear to be. Colored foods are normally packed full of anti-oxidants that help to prevent diseases of the cardiovascular system and to mop up free radicals present in our bodies. These antioxidants are all chemicals, and many of the naturally occurring antioxidants are highly colored. They are very good at destroying free radicals.
Free radicals are a form of chemical that destroy body cells, and not only accelerate the effects of aging, but also harm our heart. A free radical is a molecule with an unpaired electron. Electrons like to go around in pairs. Every atom has pairs of electrons, and one atom has an odd number then it pairs up with another atom with an odd number, so the two form a compound with an even number of electrons.
However, now and again, the body’s metabolism throws up a molecule with an unpaired electron. That electron’s first thought is to find a partner, and it does so by stealing one from a cell in your body. The result is the disruption and destruction of the cell. Free radicals can also be formed by environmental pollution, cigarette smoke, pesticides and so on.
Anti-oxidants destroy free radicals, and generally keep us healthier for longer. They do so by mopping up the extra electron, and there are many different types of antioxidant that form part of our normal diet. Among them are vitamins A, C and E, but there are others that are complex highly colored organic compounds. Among these are the anthocyanins, known to paint and ink manufacturers as strong red pigments.
Anthocyanins are the pigments or dyes that color red grapes, egg plant, plums and blueberries and they are very powerful antioxidants. However, it is not only for antioxidants that we should eat colorful foods. Some dark green foods, such as spinach, green peppers, peas, celery and dark leafy vegetables, contain what are known as lutein. Lutein works in combination with zeaxanthin to protect our eyes from cataracts and a condition known as macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness. Zeaxanthin is available from red peppers, oranges, egg yolk and corn.
Many people take folic acid supplements help maintain a healthy heart, and especially women to help prevent birth defects. However, the natural form of folic acid, folate is available from green foods such as lettuce, green beans, broccoli, peas, green grapes, and many other green foods. Broccoli and cabbage also contain indoles also known as indol-3-carbinol are believed to protect your from some cancers. So green is good!
Yellow is also good, and foods such as grapefruit, pineapple and melon help to boost the immune system and keep infections at bay, and also to provide energy and help maintain healthy eyes. Many antioxidants are yellow, although yellow might not a color that you would associate as being attractive to children, unless very bright. However, the yellow foods tend to be fruits rather than vegetables, and it is much easier to persuade a child to eat a pineapple than a squash.
Lycopene is another very powerful antioxidant that prevents the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that can damage the cardiovascular system through atherosclerosis. Lycopene is a red pigment very common in tomatoes, and is fat soluble. It is a member of the carotenoid family of antioxidants that are common in brightly colored foods such as carrots, red peppers and many yellow fruits and vegetables as described above. Lutein is also a carotenoid.
A diet rich in carotenoids is very good for keeping the effects of aging at bay and protecting you from heart problems. Lycopene is contained in the liver, colon, skin and prostate gland, and can occur at higher concentrations than most other carotenoids. People that suffer from HIV infections, high cholesterol diseases and inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis, are generally found to have low levels of lycopene in their blood.
Many of the so-called ’superfoods’ are also brightly colored, and useful not just for their antioxidant properties. Take cranberries for example. These bright red berries contain proanthocyanadins that prevent some bacteria such as e-coli from adhering to the walls of the urinary tract and cause urinary tract infections such as cystitis, and also from adhering to the gums. Cranberries can therefore be used in the treatment of some gum diseases. However, they also possess strong antioxidant properties that help to protect the body against some cancers and also heart disease.
Blueberries are high in vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants with strong anti-inflammatory properties. Pomegranates have exceptionally high antioxidant content and are excellent for a healthy cardiovascular system while strong green broccoli contains not only vitamin C and antioxidants but also folate (the natural form of folic acid) and the phytochemical sulforafane that is believed to protect against certain cancers.
The color of your food, therefore, not only makes it look pretty on your plate and attractive to children, but also indicates the presence of strong antioxidants and other chemicals that help to protect you from specific medical conditions. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of the so-called superfoods is vegetable in origin rather than animal, and also tastes good. You should eat as many of them as you can, and certainly at least five portions every day.
Some can also be used as a remedy for specific conditions in addition to being used for their preventative properties, such as cranberries are used in the treatment of diseases of the urinary tract, and specific diets can help to reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol in the body. Eating with your eyes is not always a bad thing. Some may find it hard to consume enough colorful fruits and vegetables to be beneficial so what is a person to do? Your local health food store has available powdered vegetable and fruit concentrates that supply all the needed nutrients in one simple drink.
Can Taking Antioxidants And Phytonutrients Benefit Your Health?
Antioxidants are naturally occurring substances found in most plants and have the potential to help combat heart diseases and fight cancer. When these compounds are found in plants they are called phytonutrients, which work in conjunction with nutrients found in the human body to combat disease. More than 900 different phytonutrients have been found in plant foods already; more are being discovered all the time and the whole area of nutrition and preventative health care is opening up. To date a large number of health giving benefits of these phytonutrients have been found; the anti-aging power of blueberries, the joint pain relieving properties of cherries and a whole host of powerful properties in pomegranates are just a few examples.
Containing less sugar than most fruits, the blueberry can also boast a number of other antioxidant properties too. 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; some of the many benefits have been improvements in the body’s capacity to heal itself and benefits to circulation. These can also strengthen the body’s ability to fight disease and infection due to their powerful antioxidants and healthy nutrients. Now the focus has shifted towards apples, which have an effect on the probability of coronary diseases.
Phytochemicals which can be an aid to our health are even contained in citrus fruits. Tart cherries can also provide anti-inflammatory benefits to people who suffer with conditions that cause pain in and around the joints. Of course we already now about the benefits of certain vitamins and minerals, which have been available for some time. Another antioxidant is resveratrol has many infection and viral prevention properties and is found in the likes of blackberries, mulberries but more highly in blueberries.
Many aging conditions benefit from the use of these compounds including, strokes, heart conditions and Alzheimer’s. The humble tomato has also been under scrutiny with benefits it has guarding against certain cancers and heart problems. There are a number of ways you can use tomatoes to gain the greatest antioxidant benefit from them and these include pureed, juice concentrate and sauce. Watermelons, recognized as a refreshing summer fruit also contain some of the most powerful phytonutrients yet found. Now that this information has been made available, are you going to wait to have a serious condition before you start consuming more fruit?
