For sometime now we have been using these words quite frequently. What do they mean?
Antioxidants are natural substances which scavenge harmful substance called free radicals that are produced in the body in response to many outside agents, food being one of them. Antioxidants literally cleanse the cells of poisonous oxidants and help in keeping the components of ells healthy.
Fruits and vegetables contain large amounts of these substances which are the natural sources of antioxidants. Some of these substances present in the natural foods are:-
- Polyphenols in tomatoes and green vegetables
- Lycophenes in onions and garlic
- Beta carotenes in melons, mangoes, vegetables, fruits
- Vitamin E in most fresh vegetables and fruits
- Vitamin C in large quantities in citrus fruits and green leafy vegetables.
It is necessary that these good natural substances should not e destroyed while cooking. Hence over-boiling, over cooking, roasting and frying ay destroy these useful substances.
Partially cooked or raw consumption of these foods is the best way of preserving these good Samaritans in our diet in our diet.
So let us have as much of raw salads and fresh fruits as possible in our diet.
It is interesting o know that the antioxidants are known to delay the again process1f we can look young and handsome for many more years, why not cash in on these natural substances?
The pharmaceutical companies are making a killing by bottling these wonderful ingredients in capsules on which we spend our hard-earned money. A fruit and a bowl of fresh raw vegetables can do the same trick for a fraction of the price.
Anticarcinogens are again natural substances present in the natural foodstuff which can scavenge cancer-producing chemicals that cause change in the cells. Many artificial and processed foods contain preservatives and coloring agents which can cause cancerous change in the cells.