How To Easily Add Antioxidants To Your Diet

Antioxidants are a critical part of our health and can help boost our immune system and reduce the signs of ageing.

Whilst the easiest way to add antioxidant protection to your diet is to use liver health supplements to boost your body’s array of protections, there are also ways to easily boost your diet and fill yourself with antioxidants by making subtle food swaps and adding healthy extras to your meals.

Here are some ways to easily add antioxidants to your diet.

Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and there is a lot of potential for food swaps here.

First of all, for people who like to add sugar to cereal, oats or porridge, replacing that with honey has been proven in studies to improve antioxidant count, as well as provide vital proteins, vitamins and minerals.

As well as this, a very healthy and quick to eat breakfast involve adding berries to cereal, or blending blueberries, strawberries and raspberries with yoghurt, for a delicious and easy to eat breakfast on the go filled with antioxidants.

Lunch And Dinner

The first, and by far easiest step to improve nearly any meal is to add a superfood salad to it. Baby spinach is filled with antioxidants that can help reduce the effect of free radicals in the body, as are artichokes, red cabbage and kale.

Add them to other balanced, healthy meals and you can instantly boost your diet very easily.

As well as this, add a bit of turmeric to your recipes. A common ingredient in curry powder, turmeric is a powerful and effective antioxidant with anti-inflammatory effects.

The best way to add turmeric is to also add black pepper to meals with it in, as it contains a substance called piperine that boosts its absorption into the bloodstream.

Dessert

Berries, once again, are an ideal part of any dessert you choose to have when it comes to adding antioxidants to your diet, as well as dark chocolate and pecan nuts.

Dark chocolate contains a huge amount of antioxidants; in one analysis dark chocolate had higher levels of antioxidants in a serving size than blueberries and raspberries combined. Cocoa rich products also help reduce blood pressure.

Pecans, on the other hand, are also rich in antioxidants and are a source of healthy fats and minerals.

Cooking Vegetables

Try to steam vegetables rather than boiling them and be careful not to overcook them. An issue you see with roast dinners, in particular, is that people tend to overcook vegetables such as sprouts and broccoli, which not only ruins their flavour but also reduces their antioxidant levels.

The main rule to follow is to ensure your veg is cooked through but also maintains its bright colour and most of its bite. It is kind of like cooking pasta al dente.

However, despite this, cooking meals for yourself is in almost all cases better than eating ready meals (even healthy ones) or ordering takeaway food.