Foods With the Most Antioxidants

Antioxidant Content of Common Foods

Antioxidants are one of the most important substances in foods. Ever wonder which vegetables are the healthiest? This is a good question that is surprisingly hard to find an answer to. One way to look at the health value of a food is to learn its antioxidant level.

Antioxidants are substances found in plants that help protect them. Plants are exposed to a lot of sunlight, which can cause damage to cells (and your skin, causing skin cancer, by the way). The antioxidants in plants repair that damage. When we eat plants that have large amounts of antioxidants, our bodies can use those same substances to repair damage to our own cells. This is a good thing. Basically, antioxidants are nature's anti-aging medicine -- they help prevent cancer, heart disease and countless other illnesses.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted a study foods commonly eaten in the United States and to determine the levels of antioxidants in them. Here is a list of some of the foods with the most anti-aging, body-repairing power:

_Sources:

Xianli Wu, Gary R. Beecher, Joanne M. Holden, David B. Haytowitz, Susan E. Gebhardt, and Ronald L. Prior. "Lipophilic and Hydrophilic Capacities of Common Foods in the United States." J. Agric. Food Chem., 52 (12), 4026-4037, 2004.