Antioxidants

Eating foods containing antioxidants can help promote good health and prevent disease. Eat a wide variety of healthy foods each day to provide your body with a range of antioxidants.

Eating foods containing antioxidants has been shown to provide health benefits. Antioxidants are naturally-occurring compounds in food that help prevent cell damage in the body. Cell damage may occur from molecules called free radicals. A diet rich in antioxidants can help prevent free radicals damaging the body.

A healthy diet containing foods from a wide variety of sources can provide many types of antioxidants, including vitamins (eg. vitamin C and vitamin E), minerals (eg. zinc and Selenium) and phytochemicals (eg. lycopene, catechins and polyphenols). By eating more antioxidant containing foods, it may be possible to reduce the risk of developing some diseases.

To increase the amount of antioxidants you eat, try more:

• fruits and vegetables
• wholegrain breads and cereals
• nuts and seeds

Drinking tea, coffee and red wine can also provide extra antioxidants, but the antioxidant content of these foods can vary between brands.

Try to select a wide variety of healthy foods each day to increase the antioxidants in your diet, rather than taking antioxidant supplements. Some studies have found very high doses of individual antioxidants may actually be harmful to health.

An Accredited Practising Dietitian can provide expert advice on dietary sources of antioxidants and assistance to help you include these in your diet.