Why do we need anti-oxidants anyway? Antioxidants protect our bodies from oxidation. You may be thinking why do we need to protect ourselves from oxygen? We need oxygen! It's essential for us! Well yes, we do need oxygen but it is a very reactive element. So it doesn't like floating around on its own. It wants to combine with something.

The word 'oxidation' means the interaction between oxygen molecules and other molecules. When steel rusts or a cut apple goes brown, that is oxidation. When the oxygen that we breathe in undergoes chemical reactions in our bodies, free radicals are produced and these can harm cells.

There are 2 ways free radicals get into our bodies.

1. We breathe in oxygen that reacts in our bodies to create free radicals.

2. We breathe in or ingest free radicals. For example, this happens when you breathe in smoke or eat a sausage that has been burnt.

Basically, antioxidants stop you from rusting on the inside. But we can't just breathe less to make sure there aren't too many free radicals in our bodies as we need oxygen to stay alive. So what do you do?

The trick is to balance your free-radicals with antioxidants. So where do you find anti-oxidants? This is where what you feed your body becomes critical!

You find antioxidants in healthy fresh foods! Vegetables and fruits are your primary sources of anti-oxidants. Here you will find your carotenoids (yellow & orange), anthocyanins (purples), polyphenols (red & brown) and many more beneficial phytochemicals.

You need to have a minimum of five serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruits to get the minimum antioxidant levels needed for health. This doesn't mean 5 spoonfuls of beans and corn at dinner time either. A serve of vegetables is:

* Half a cup of cooked vegetables

or

* One cup of salad vegetables

So that works out to be 2.5 cups of cooked vegetables or 5 cups of salad.

I've covered the volume of vegetables you require but you also need to think about the kind of vegetables you are eating. The easiest way to make sure you are getting all the antioxidants you need is to eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables every day. The more colors the better. So make sure you ask for all the salads when you go to Subway!

Resources

Wholefood Antioxidant Supplement - Certified Organic

Video Explaining Antioxidants

TastyAdvice.com - Food & Nutrition