What should contain an antioxidants-rich diet?

You have probably been hearing a lot about antioxidants and how good they are for your health. But do you know exactly what they are and how you can benefit from them? Antioxidants stabilize harmful by-products of the body’s energy-making machinery. These by-products, known as free radicals, can damage DNA, make LDL (“bad”) cholesterol even worse, and affect also other parts of the body. Antioxidants can help neutralize free radicals and can be found in various foods. Each food has an antioxidant concentration per serving size. Cranberries, strawberries and blackberries ranked highest among the foods with highest levels of antioxidants. Cooked artichokes and cabbage were tops among the vegetables. Pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts ranked highest in the nut category. Cooking appears to increase the antioxidant potential of most foods, with the exception of grains such as rice, pasta, and corn grits, which show lower levels after cooking. Harvard Medical School published three dozen foods with the highest per-serving content of antioxidants that can be found below: Product Antioxidants (mmol/serving)Blackberries 5. 746Walnuts 3. 721Strawberries 3. 584Artichokes, prepared 3. 559Cranberries 3. 125Coffee 2. 959Raspberries 2. 870Pecans 2. 741Blueberries 2. 680Cloves, ground 2. 637Grape juice 2. 557Chocolate, baking, unsweetened 2. 516Cranberry juice 2. 474Cherries, sour 2. 205Wine, red 2. 199Power Bar, chocolate flavor 1. 875Pineapple juice 1. 859Guava nectar 1. 858Juice drinks, 10% juice, blueberry or strawberry flavor, vitamin C enriched 1. 821Cranapple juice 1. 790Prunes 1. 715Chocolate, dark, sugar-free 1. 675Cabbage, red, cooked 1. 614Orange juice 1. 510Apple juice, with added vitamin C 1. 462Mango nectar 1. 281Pineapples 1. 276Oranges 1. 261Bran Flakes breakfast cereal 1. 244Plums, black 1. 205Pinto beans, dried 1. 137Canned chili with meat and beans 1. 049Canned chili with meat, no beans 1. 045Spinach, frozen 1. 040Whole Grain Total breakfast cereal 1. 024Chocolate, sugar-free 1. 001...

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