Antioxidants and HealthThis is one of the common topics on which a lot has been written. Perhaps I will not bring any thing new but only in a newer format which makes sense.
Aging is a process where our bodies slow down in healing the damage on a daily basis and eventually it starts showing in various forms as wrinkles on the skin, gray hair, reading glasses, and so forth. This is all normal. Some start contacting ailments which become chronic. That is unfortunate. What can be done? Something can certainly be done if we start understanding our body and its needs. It seems more complex than it is.
In everyone, genetic code exists which we have inherited from our parents. We owe it to ourselves to maintain the genetic code as well as we can. Besides, we owe it to the generations to come. Supposing I experience shortage of food or famine conditions, my genetic code may be altered such that my grandson's life expectancy would get reduced. Those who live exposed to toxins, may pass that genetic code to their descendants. The research is still being done to understand exact human genomics, especially about what causes some genes to be switched off or on which is the reason of some ailments.
The trillions of cells in the human body need continuous regeneration and repair. Free radicals in the human body cause the damage and our bodies require antioxidants to overcome the free radicals' attack. A continuous supply of antioxidants is required. To make it more complex, antioxidants is a group of chemical compounds referred to by different names. Each of them has a very different and special function. To simply put that antioxidants as the small repair factories would not be wrong because they come with compounds that can get absorbed in the body very well. There are no man made exact substitutes though some have been replicated.
Good News: it is very simple you can get all the antioxidants from regular food. We have to be little careful in planning our food. We all have heard a number of times: eat balanced food. To me there is another part to it.
Nature has color coded the foods. If we follow the color schemes and take a few food items from each of the coded colors, we would have got the balanced food. Here is the brief color coded scheme:
Protective Foods:
Yellow, Orange, Red, Yellow/Green foods contain alpha carotene, beta carotene, lycopene, leutin, vitamin C.
Vegetables like carrots, corn, lettuce, peas, spinach, tomatoes, squash, orange and yellow bell peppers fall in this category.
Fruits like apricots, avocado, bananas, cantaloupes, lemons, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, pears, pineapples, strawberries fall in this category.
The antioxidants in them help us fight stress, chemical and UV exposure. The antioxidants in this group protect the cells.
Repair and Improvement Foods:
Green as well as Green/White foods have sulfur compounds such as cysteine, indoles, sulphoraphane
Vegetable like asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, mustard greens, onions, garlic, sprouts fall in this category
Some of the foods have very high pungent flavor because of sulfur content. These foods are known to induce protective enzymes aslso known as phase 2 detoxifying enzymes.
These help fight various forms of cancers.
Improvement of Genetic Expression Foods:
Black, Blue, Purple, Magenta foods are rich source of flavonoids, polyphenols, anthocyanidins.
Vegetables like eggplant, beets fall in this category. Tea, red wines and white wine also fall in this category.
Fruits like blackberries, blueberries, cherries, grapes, pomegranates, prunes, raspberries, red apples, strawberries fall in this category.
The antioxidants in these foods help protect DNA. These are known to improve the genetic expression and even alter the genetic switches.
Balancing of Hormones:
Brown and Tan foods have phytosterols, phytoestrogens and fiber.
Vegetables like potatoes, green peas fall in this category.
Cereals like brown rice, millet, oats, wild rice, whole grain breads and pasta fall in this category.
Legumes like beans,lentils, split peas, tofu, black eyed peas fall in this category.
Nuts like almonds, flaxseed, peanuts, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds fall in this category.
These foods provide for slower digestion and help in insulin resistance. These also provide isoflavones.
Source of Protein, Enzymes:
White, Pale, Yellow, Reddish Brwon foods are rich in amino acids, and fatty acids.
Foods like chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, fish, turkey, tofu, meats, yogurt, butter, canola oil, olive oil fall in this category.
Olive oil has high mono unsaturated fatty acids which help in cognitive decline.
Pick your foods in a mix of colors and you would have created a balanced diet. Eating in moderation is always better.
