nutrition facts

Antioxidants are all the rage today. And
justifiably so. Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals which cause cell damage
which ultimately can lead to diseases of the heart and cancer. It seems everywhere you go its blueberry this and blueberry that. You have your choice of wild blueberry juice
blueberry-pomegranate juice
blueberry-cranberry juice and so on and so on.

Now
don’t get me wrong. I love blueberries. But
in our rush to embrace the latest antioxidant food craze (blueberries
cranberries
pomegranates) we’re ignoring some very high-antioxidant foods that are probably sitting ignored in our cupboards.

“What?” You ask
“What could possibly be higher in antioxidants than my beloved wild blueberry?” Well
how about the small red bean? That’s right
I said “bean.” The small red bean actually has more antioxidants per serving size than the wild blueberry. And the red kidney bean and pinto bean have more antioxidants per serving size than a serving of cultivated blueberries.

What other foods are high in antioxidants? For starters
there are artichoke hearts
blackberries
prunes
pecans
spinach
kale
russet potatoes and plums. And
no
that’s not a mistake. Russet potatoes are on the list of foods high in antioxidants.

The truth is
there are many common foods high in antioxidants and you should not just restrict yourself to one particular food source. Why? Well
have you ever heard the expression
“eat your colors?” That refers to the fact that foods are in different color “families” containing different types of antioxidants which have different benefits. For example
the yellow-orange color family of peaches and nectarines help our immune systems. The purple-red color family of foods (pomegranates
plums
berries) helps reduce inflammation. It’s important to eat foods from all color groups to reap the full benefits of antioxidants.

The good news is that you can eat healthy foods high in antioxidants (by eating them raw
cooking them
or juicing them yourself) without having to pay a high price for the “flavor of the month” antioxidant juices being peddled in the supermarkets.

So
give your blueberries some company at the dinner table. Invite some beans
spinach
potatoes and artichoke hearts and enjoy your antioxidants!