Antioxidant Rich Diets Promote Health and Can Help You Live Longer

Free radicals destroy healthy cells and cause oxidation to occur within our bodies which has many negative effects on our health. A diet rich in antioxidants such as fruits, primarily the acai berry will help combat free radicals and rejuvinate your health and well being. We all hear about how free radicals are harmful to us, and how antioxidants are necessary but I have found many people don't really understand why. I will attempt to explain.

Free radicals are unbalanced cells in our bodies that are extremely unstable. Free radicals occur naturally within our bodies and are also caused from things such as cigarette smoke, stress, lack of sleep, excess sun, as well as from normal processes in our bodies. The problem with free radicals is they want to make themselves balanced by stealing an electron from neighboring cells, which turn THOSE cells into free radicals. This process is repeated over and over again and this is called Oxidation. If you don't have enough antioxidants in your system to fight free radicals, it is called oxidative stress. Why is this bad?

Well, picture a piece of iron sitting out in the rain. If it is left there without protection, it will start rusting in no time. This is also known as oxidation. The piece of iron is breaking down. This is exactly what is happening inside of our bodies- we are literally "rusting" from the inside out! If left unabated, free radicals cause our bodies to be in a state of inflammation, which is a major factor in debilitating disease such as cardio vascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, aging, arthritis, etc according to Dr. Ralph Carson, a leading pathologist.

So what is the best way to get the antioxidants we need to prevent this from happening? One of the best ways is from fruits. The problem is most Americans don't eat the recommended 5-10 servings of fruit a day, not even close. A University of California study found the 4 most consumed fruits and vegetables in America are:

1.) French-fried potatoes

2.) Ketchup

3.) Pizza sauce

4.) Iceburg lettuce.

It's no wonder America faces an epidemic in obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other diet related diseases. A fruit's antioxidant level is generally measured by its ORAC (oxygen radical absorption capacity) level. This ORAC level basically determines how well a fruit combats free radicals.

Some fruits with the highest known ORAC scores (in order) are the Acai berry, Wild black raspberry, Wild blueberry, Elderberry and Red raspberry. The acai berry by far stands out with the highest ORAC score of 1,027. The acai berry, which comes from the Brazillian Amazon rain forest has received a lot of press recently and has been featured on the Oprah show where Dr. Nicholas Perricone, a prominent dermatologist said Acai is nature's #1 super food to help you live longer and look younger. There are several acai products available on the market today but make sure the kind you are getting is processed properly to ensure all the antioxidants and phytonutrients are preserved.