Antioxidant Rich Superfoods

Guest post by Valentine Reed-Johnson RD CDN, a Registered Dietitian in the Clinical Nutrition Department at Mount Sinai Hospital.

We’ve all heard it: consuming adequate fruits and vegetables contributes to lowering risk of chronic disease. But how? Antioxidants are substances found in foods that may prevent or delay cell damage, leading to the prevention of certain cancers.

Free radicals from energy production in the body and pollutants in the environment lead to oxidative stress, which can contribute to cell damage and DNA alterations. Antioxidants have been known to counterbalance this oxidative stress. Vitamin C, E, and beta carotene are the most well-known to contribute electrons to free radicals, preventing this damage.

Knowing this, what should we eat to help prevent disease? Often people choose to take multivitamins and other dietary supplements in order to “cover their bases” and promote overall health; however, vitamins are not proven to work as well as eating a healthy, nutrient dense diet. Phytochemicals are found in the foods we eat, not the multivitamins we take.

The largest groups of protective plant-based chemicals are known as phenolic compounds or polyphenols. They fall into many classes and subclasses including flavonoids, anthocyanins, and isoflavones. Below is a table to help us determine which foods give us the biggest “bang for our buck!” It is important to have a varied, colorful diet; it promotes the potential for getting all of these valuable antioxidants!