Should you worry about which foods contain the most antioxidants?
Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized
Paul has asked:
I was just wondering, with all the great fresh fruits around, which have the highest amounts of antioxidants? I’ve heard pomegranates, but what about blueberries, and oranges?
I have to admit I find it hard to keep up with the list of top antioxidant containing foods. It seems to change with annoying regularity. At the moment I’m pretty sure it’s a toss up between acai berry and pomegranate juice. Although Indian gooseberries are also making a claim for the top spot. While a few years ago the number ones were wild blueberries and dried legumes.
While it’s interesting to know which foods are highest in antioxidants, I’m not sure how nutritionally useful this information is. For starters, the winners seem to have moved away from normal every day foods – the kind of things you’d buy at the supermarket. Goji, acai, pomegranate juice and billberries are not cheap. And I’ve no idea where you’d buy Indian gooseberries from.
Plus I find the idea of superfoods misleading. To concentrate on the foods that contain the most antioxidants implies they’re the only food you need. It gives the impression that if you eat this one, really expensive food, you’ll never have any health problems and you don’t have to bother with other fruit and veg.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The most important thing about antioxidants is to be having a variety. Neither pomegranate juice, billberries, nor even Indian gooseberries contain all the antioxidants you need.
Antioxidants are not one homogenous thing. There are actually many, MANY different kinds. They’re split into groups. For example:
- anthocyans found in berries
- flavonoids in apples, citrus, tea, potatoes
- carotenoids in carrots and green leafy vegies
- catechins in green tea, cinnamon and turmeric
- isothiocyanates in radishes and mustard
- indoles in broccoli and Brussels sprouts
- vitamin C in fruit and green vegetables
- the tocopherols in vegetable oils, nuts and avocado
However, even within these individual groups there’s a stack load of variety. If you concentrate on only a handful of foods you simply won’t get the mix and levels of antioxidants you need to be healthy, both now and into the future
What should you do?
My recommendation is to eat as many different kinds of fruit and vegetables as you can.
It’s easy to get into a rut when doing your grocery shopping. Buying the same fruit and veg each week. But break out of this habit. Instead buy different foods.
One of the simplest ways to make sure you’re getting a variety, is to buy different colours. Make sure your shopping basket contains:
- dark greens, such asspinach, brocolli, rocket and Asian greens
- lighter greens like kiwi fruit, green beans and zucchini
- oranges like pumpkin, honeydew melon and . . . oranges
- the reds of tomato, watermelon, red capsicum, chilli and beetroot
- dark blues and purples, such as berries and eggplant
- the white of onions and garlic
- yellows like squash and yellow capsicum
Ignore the superfoods. While oranges, blueberries and kiwi fruit may not be at the top of the antioxidant list, they’re still packed full of goodness.
What is Q & A Month?
This post is part of Q & A Month. For those of you new to Limes & Lycopene, I usually run a fortnightly question and answer forum, called Q & A Thursday. But for the next four weeks, it’s Q & A Month. If you have a question, or there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, leave a comment below or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
06 February, 2008
Comments
Kathryn – I couldn’t agree more, absolutely spot on! This is a topic which drives me crazy too, as if an apple, or an orange were deficient in some way!
I blame manufacturers and the media though, not the general public.
Very nicely put Kathryn!
There’s a big story on the news in the UK today which will amuse you – beetroot juice is to become our new “superfood”. Until next week that is:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7228420.stm
This is great – variety is the key…as with most things it seems.
Those ‘super’-foods are impossible to keep up with! Must look into what an Indian Gooseberry actually looks like…
Hear Hear! It does seem that we are constantly told to eat superfoods which seems more about marketing than health – did you see the choice magazine shonky awards at the end of last year – one was about superjuices having less antioxidants than a red apple! And I am behind you on the colours of fruit and vegetables – I am not so good at varying the colours in fruit but in vegetables it really add to the attractiveness as well as the health benefits of dinner.
Thanks Mel – absolutely agree.
Sophie – I saw that story. Was going to link to it during my Friday Quicklinks post. Love the idea of people drinking 500ml of beetroot juice. Imagine the freak-outs when everyone went to the loo.
Lucy – I’m intrigued by the Indian gooseberry as well!
Johanna – yes I did see the Choice awards. A nice little reality check.
Thanks Kathryn. This is something I come across so frequently across all sources, none more so than the mainstream media. Mostly in relation to the antioxidant capacity of different fruits. I know we’ve been through it, but we can never forget the Ribena / more vitamin C than oranges ‘mistake’.
Agreed all that variety is the key.
On a slight tangent, I am interested to know what people think of the new Woolworths ads where the kids build a fruit rocket, and a man of vegetables and fruit, and a hand of vegetables. To be honest, I actually think it’s good that big corporations like Woolworths are doing something to introduce messages about healthy eating in the mainstream media.
Anyway, just my two cents.
I’ve always heard acai has way more antioxidants than pomegranate. Either way, I think it tastes better, so I’ll stick with the acai – but pomegranate is no slouch either.
I couldn’t agree more, Kathryn! The slogan over here is, “eat from the rainbow”—ie, just as you said, as wide a variety of colors as possible.
I think the latest “super food” to hit Canadian healthfood stores is Xocai chocolate, which claims to have more antioxidants than anything else (since they include acai and blueberry powder in their dark chocolate). I got a box from a friend and have to admit it tastes great, but of course the temptation is to eat a few (or more, perhaps) pieces at a time instead of the one recommended. And by then, I’m sure, it’s no longer “healthy”!!
Ricki – eating from the rainbow – I like that. Chocolate itself does contain a lot of antioxidants, even without the acai and blueberries. But you’re right, it doesn’t mean a whole block is healthy!
Mmm, chocolate.. I have a some Lindt 80% cocoa sitting in the fridge… I should go and get some antioxidants into me, post-training… :P
I forgot about the acai berry craze. I would be interested to try this Xocai chocolate, Ricki. Can you get it in Australia yet?
You can buy the Xocai chocolate here in Australia, but I don’t think it’s very widely available. Here in Sydney Macro or About Life might stock it?
On a slightly separate note – I saw chocolate coated goji berries in a health food shop. I was talking to the owner and apparently each piece has only the tiniest bit of goji in it – not even a whole berry. So they are definitely chocolates masquerading as something else!
Paul – I saw one of the adverts you are talking about last night. I’m surprised Woolworths are doing it, but I’m just happy the message is getting out there in prime time.
As ever, while Xocai chocolate might be very high in antioxidants, the best, cheapest and most accessible sources are fruit and vegetables. You don’t have to buy special products to get antioxidants. And they’re not hard to find.
Instead, include fruit and vegetables in your daily diet and eat a variety of different foods. This will ensure you not only get plenty of antioxidants, but you also get the variety you need to keep you healthy now and into the future
Update: I’ve recently removed a number of comments from people endorsing Xocai chocolate. The comments have all been from distributors of this brand of chocolate. I’m more than happy for there to be an open discussion about different products, but Limes & Lycopene is not a sales forum. And I do not endorse these products. Hence they’ve gone.
When are people going to realize. It can be said 1,000,000 times. Everything in moderation. This will allow you to diversify your diet which includes intakes of various sources of antioxidants.
This will also allow you to be satisfied with the food you eat more and not get sick of a specific healthy food.
Some sites (like mine ahem) can analyze your diet and tell you the amounts of all the different antioxidants you are getting. Generally the more color in your food (especially dark colors and very bright colors) the better (and I don’t mean red dye no 5!).
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