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Top 10 Antioxidant-Rich Foods You Need in Your Diet!Essential antioxidant-rich vegetables -
Keep in mind that most of the trials conducted have had fundamental limitations due to their relatively short duration and inclusion of people with existing disease.
At the same time, abundant evidence suggests that eating whole in fruits , vegetables , and whole grains —all rich in networks of naturally occurring antioxidants and their helper molecules—provides protection against many scourges of aging.
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The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products. Skip to content The Nutrition Source. The Nutrition Source Menu. Search for:. Home Nutrition News What Should I Eat? In , a rating tool called the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity ORAC was created by scientists from the National Institute on Aging and the United States Department of Agriculture USDA.
It was used to measure the antioxidant capacity of foods. The USDA provided an ORAC database on its website highlighting foods with high ORAC scores, including cocoa, berries, spices, and legumes.
Blueberries and other foods topping the list were heavily promoted in the popular press as disease-fighters even if the science was weak, from cancer to brain health to heart disease.
However, 20 years later the USDA retracted the information and removed the database after determining that antioxidants have many functions, not all of which are related to free radical activity.
Although this was not a primary endpoint for the trial, it nevertheless represents an important outcome. In the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation HOPE trial, the rates of major cardiovascular events were essentially the same in the vitamin E A recent trial of vitamin E in Israel, for example, showed a marked reduction in coronary heart disease among people with type 2 diabetes who have a common genetic predisposition for greater oxidative stress.
In the Supplementation en Vitamines et Mineraux Antioxydants SU. MAX study, 13, French men and women took a single daily capsule that contained mg vitamin C, 30 mg vitamin E, 6 mg beta-carotene, mcg selenium, and 20 mg zinc, or a placebo, for seven and a half years.
The vitamins had no effect on overall rates of cardiovascular disease. Lung disease A study from the Journal of Respiratory Research found that different isoforms of vitamin E called tocopherols had opposing effects on lung function. Cancer When it comes to cancer prevention, the picture remains inconclusive for antioxidant supplements.
MAX randomized placebo-controlled trial showed a reduction in cancer risk and all-cause mortality among men taking an antioxidant cocktail low doses of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium, and zinc but no apparent effect in women, possibly because men tended to have low blood levels of beta-carotene and other vitamins at the beginning of the study.
Age-related eye disease A six-year trial, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study AREDS , found that a combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc offered some protection against the development of advanced age-related macular degeneration, but not cataracts, in people who were at high risk of the disease.
However, relatively short trials of lutein supplementation for age-related macular degeneration have yielded conflicting findings. The study found that people taking the vitamins were less likely to progress to late-stage AMD and vision loss.
However, the study authors noted that taking lutein and zeaxanthin alone or vitamin E alone did not have a beneficial effect on these eye conditions.
The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial SELECT Eye Endpoints Study, which followed 11, men for a mean of five years, did not find that vitamin E and selenium supplements, in combination or alone, protected from age-related cataracts. It did not find that antioxidant supplements of vitamin E or selenium, alone or in combination, protected against dementia compared with a placebo.
Early death A meta-analysis of 68 antioxidant supplement trials found that taking beta-carotene and vitamin A and E supplements increased the risk of dying. It was also difficult to compare interventions because the types of supplements, the dosages taken, and the length of time they were taken varied widely.
The same authors conducted another systematic review of 78 randomized clinical trials on antioxidant supplements including beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium alone or in combination.
The study found that both people who were healthy and those with diseases taking beta-carotene and vitamin E supplements had a higher rate of death.
The duration of the studies varied widely from one month to 12 years, with varying dosages. The first inkling came in a large trial of beta-carotene conducted among men in Finland who were heavy smokers, and therefore at high risk for developing lung cancer.
The trial was stopped early when researchers saw a significant increase in lung cancer among those taking the supplement compared to those taking the placebo.
Again, an increase in lung cancer was seen in the supplement group. MAX trial, rates of skin cancer were higher in women who were assigned to take vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium, and zinc.
These results came from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial SELECT that followed 35, men for up to 12 years. References National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health NCCIH. Antioxidants: In Depth. Carlsen MH, Halvorsen BL, Holte K, Bøhn SK, Dragland S, Sampson L, Willey C, Senoo H, Umezono Y, Sanada C, Barikmo I.
The total antioxidant content of more than foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide. Nutrition journal. Semba RD, Ferrucci L, Bartali B, Urpí-Sarda M, Zamora-Ros R, Sun K, Cherubini A, Bandinelli S, Andres-Lacueva C. Resveratrol levels and all-cause mortality in older community-dwelling adults.
JAMA internal medicine. Grodstein F, Kang JH, Glynn RJ, Cook NR, Gaziano JM. Archives of internal medicine. USDA Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity ORAC of Selected Foods, Release 2 Lee IM, Cook NR, Gaziano JM, Gordon D, Ridker PM, Manson JE, Hennekens CH, Buring JE.
Lonn E, Bosch J, Yusuf S, Sheridan P, Pogue J, Arnold JM, Ross C, Arnold A, Sleight P, Probstfield J, Dagenais GR. Effects of long-term vitamin E supplementation on cardiovascular events and cancer: a randomized controlled trial. GISSI-Prevenzione Investigators. Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E after myocardial infarction: results of the GISSI-Prevenzione trial.
The Lancet. Milman U, Blum S, Shapira C, Aronson D, Miller-Lotan R, Anbinder Y, Alshiek J, Bennett L, Kostenko M, Landau M, Keidar S. Vitamin E supplementation reduces cardiovascular events in a subgroup of middle-aged individuals with both type 2 diabetes mellitus and the haptoglobin genotype: a prospective double-blinded clinical trial.
Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. Hennekens CH, Buring JE, Manson JE, Stampfer M, Rosner B, Cook NR, Belanger C, LaMotte F, Gaziano JM, Ridker PM, Willett W. Lack of effect of long-term supplementation with beta carotene on the incidence of malignant neoplasms and cardiovascular disease.
New England Journal of Medicine. Hercberg S, Galan P, Preziosi P, Bertrais S, Mennen L, Malvy D, Roussel AM, Favier A, Briançon S. The SU.
MAX Study: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the health effects of antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Cook NR, Albert CM, Gaziano JM, Zaharris E, MacFadyen J, Danielson E, Buring JE, Manson JE. Marchese ME, Kumar R, Colangelo LA, Avila PC, Jacobs DR, Gross M, Sood A, Liu K, Cook-Mills JM.
The vitamin E isoforms α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol have opposite associations with spirometric parameters: the CARDIA study. Respiratory research. Berdnikovs S, Abdala-Valencia H, McCary C, Somand M, Cole R, Garcia A, Bryce P, Cook-Mills JM. Isoforms of vitamin E have opposing immunoregulatory functions during inflammation by regulating leukocyte recruitment.
The Journal of Immunology. Duffield-Lillico AJ, Reid ME, Turnbull BW, Combs GF, Slate EH, Fischbach LA, Marshall JR, Clark LC.
Baseline characteristics and the effect of selenium supplementation on cancer incidence in a randomized clinical trial: a summary report of the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Biomarkers. Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group. A randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of high-dose supplementation with vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and zinc for age-related macular degeneration and vision loss: AREDS report no.
Archives of ophthalmology. A randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of high-dose supplementation with vitamins C and E and beta carotene for age-related cataract and vision loss: AREDS report no.
Archives of Ophthalmology. Richer S, Stiles W, Statkute L, Pulido J, Frankowski J, Rudy D, Pei K, Tsipursky M, Nyland J. Double-masked, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of lutein and antioxidant supplementation in the intervention of atrophic age-related macular degeneration: the Veterans LAST study Lutein Antioxidant Supplementation Trial.
Optometry-Journal of the American Optometric Association. Bartlett HE, Eperjesi F. Effect of lutein and antioxidant dietary supplementation on contrast sensitivity in age-related macular disease: a randomized controlled trial. European journal of clinical nutrition.
Beans are a diverse group of legumes that are inexpensive and healthy. They are also incredibly high in fiber, which can help keep your bowel movements regular.
Beans are also one of the best vegetable sources of antioxidants, containing a particular antioxidant called kaempferol, which may help with things like reducing chronic inflammation and suppressing cancer growth.
That said, most of the research supporting the benefits of kaempferol has been in animals or test tubes, so more human-based studies are needed. Learn about the health benefits of beans. Beets, also known as beetroot , are a great source of fiber, potassium, iron, folate, and antioxidants.
These give beets their reddish color and have been linked to health benefits. For example, several test-tube studies have linked betalains to a lower risk of cancers in the colon and digestive tract. Learn more about the health benefits of beats.
Spinach is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and is incredibly low in calories. Learn about the health benefits of spinach. Spices such as ginger , turmeric , and garlic , as well as herbs such as rosemary , parsley , and sage , all contain a variety of minerals, vitamins, and important antioxidants.
Putting them on your food or in your cooking can help reduce oxidative stress, which can help reduce the chance of developing various health conditions. Depending on the specific herb or spice, these diseases include high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, and diabetes.
Okra is a flowering plant with edible seed pods that grows best in warm and tropical climates. It also contains antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory and may help reduce high cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as protect heart and brain health.
Read more about the health benefits of okra. That said, some have more bioactive compounds than others, such as vitamins E and C , for example. Drinks that are high in antioxidants include green tea, pomegranate juice, and acai juice. They protect your body from potentially harmful molecules known as free radicals, which can accumulate and promote oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress raises the risk of heart disease, cancers, type 2 diabetes, and many other chronic conditions. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants can help neutralize free radicals and reduce the risk of these chronic diseases.
By eating a wide variety of the foods in this article, you can boost your blood levels of antioxidants and reap their many health benefits. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
VIEW ALL HISTORY. This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts. Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.
This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses 1, 2, 3 are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers. Brain fog is a symptom of another medical condition.
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How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Nutrition Evidence Based 14 Healthy Foods High in Antioxidants. Medically reviewed by Katherine Marengo LDN, R. Dark chocolate Pecans Blueberries Strawberries Artichokes Goji berries Raspberries Kale Red cabbage Beans Beets Spinach Spices Okra FAQs Bottom line Many nutrient-dense foods are rich in antioxidants, including certain types of berries, nuts, and vegetables.
Dark chocolate. Goji berries. Red cabbage. Spices and herbs. Frequently asked questions. The bottom line. How we reviewed this article: Sources.
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We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. Feb 14, Written By Ryan Raman. Feb 13, Medically Reviewed By Katherine Marengo, LDN, RD. Share this article.
Evidence Based This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts. More in Understanding Inflammation and Aging Your 5-Minute Read on Inflamm-aging and How to Prevent It.
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