Fighting the Free Radicals

What to do

How to Fight Free Radicals at the Table

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One of the most important strategies in the fight against free radicals is, without a doubt, the consumption, at the table, of foods rich in antioxidants.
But what are these foods? This article reports a "useful table, which summarizes which foods are carriers of the given antioxidant; moreover, it provides a series of useful indications for their correct consumption.

Free Radicals: What are they?

Free radicals are highly unstable and highly reactive chemicals characterized by the presence of at least one unpaired electron in the outermost orbital.

Beyond this purely chemical characteristic, whose understanding and implications require a certain knowledge of the subject, free radicals are substances feared because they are capable of causing damage to the DNA and membrane phospholipids, thus accelerating the aging process. and resulting factors favoring degenerative diseases and neoplasms.

For further information: Free Radicals: What are they?

Antioxidants Against Free Radicals

Main antioxidants useful for fighting free radicals

The category of antioxidants is quite wide and every year, thanks to the growing enthusiasm for these substances, it is further expanded.

Antioxidant Carrier Foods Vitamin E Vegetable oils in particular wheat germ, butter and dairy products, dried and oily fruit, avocado and whole grains. Vitamin A Cod liver oil, liver, meats, offal, some fish, eggs, milk, cheese, butter. Carotenoids are instead present in yellow-orange vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, peppers; in green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli; in some fruits, such as apricots, melons, yellow peaches, pink grapefruit and papaya. Lipoic acid It abounds in red meats and offal (especially liver and heart). Some vegetables (potatoes, broccoli and spinach) also contain significant amounts. C vitamin Some fresh fruits (sour fruits, citrus fruits, pineapples, kiwis, strawberries, cherries, etc.), some fresh vegetables (lettuce, radicchio, spinach, broccoli, etc.), some fresh vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers), tubers (especially new potatoes). Lycopene Ripe pink grapefruit tomatoes, blood oranges, carrots, apricots and watermelons. Sauces and tomato juices are therefore a better source than fresh food. Lutein Spinach, cut chicory, red radicchio, parsley, rocket, peas, lettuce, broccoli, yellow corn and yolk. Selenium Cereals, seafood, meat, nuts, mushrooms and asparagus. Zinc Oysters, yeast, liver, milk and meat. Copper Meat in general; nuts, cereals and wholemeal bread, legumes Glutathione The glutathione contained in foods or oral supplements is not able to significantly increase endogenous levels of glutathione (due to a reduced intestinal absorption associated with its hepatic inactivation). Supplementation of its precursors and in particular of cysteine ​​may be useful. Coenzyme Q10 Meat, fish, cereals, vegetable oils, wheat germ, soy and vegetable foods in general Carnosine Meat, fish and food of animal origin Melatonin Hormone secreted predominantly, but not limited to, by a small gland in the brain called the pineal gland or epiphysis Bioflavonoid polyphenols
plant pigments Berries, grape juice, cabbage, plums, pink grapefruit, kiwi and in general fruit and vegetables with bright colors (dark green, pink, yellow, orange, purple etc. See also: natural antioxidants; antioxidant foods

Ideal consumption of foods with antioxidants: some tips

The antioxidant action of the substances listed above is not isolated but synergistic with the others. An imbalance, both in excess and in defect, could therefore be harmful.
The antioxidant action of vitamin E requires, for example, adequate quantities of vitamin C, just as glutathione needs selenium to block the damaging action of free radicals.
Furthermore, considering the existence of various oxidizing agents, each single substance is effective in countering specific free radicals, directly or indirectly (by enhancing the action of endogenous antioxidant systems).

It is therefore incorrect to emphasize the antioxidant properties of a single substance while leaving out the others; instead we should try to take them all in the right proportions.
It is no coincidence that most nutritionists emphasize the importance of following a balanced diet and consuming plenty of seasonal fruit and vegetables every day: only in this way, in fact, is it possible to provide the right doses of antioxidants.

A low-dose multivitamin supplement, preferably enriched with lipoic acid, selenium and coenzyme Q10, to be taken daily at breakfast, is an excellent strategy to keep free radicals under control.
Such a plan of integration is indicated above all in periods of greater psychophysical commitment and for all those people who are unable to take the right doses of fresh fruit and vegetables every day.

Onions also help fight free radicals. In reality, there is not a single onion. There are many types of onions and each Italian variety has its own characteristics.

Fighting Free Radicals: How to Behave at the Table

Here is a list of fundamental behaviors to adopt at the table, in the fight against free radicals:

• Importantly limit or avoid the consumption of high glycemic index foods and foods rich in refined carbohydrates;
• Drastically limit or avoid the consumption of processed meats, such as sausages, cured meats, etc .;
• Limit the consumption of red meat;
• Do not reuse cooking fats and oils, as their further heating generates free radicals that penetrate into the food;
• Limit or avoid the consumption of alcoholic substances;
• Eat foods rich in antioxidants in adequate quantities;
• Habitually consume foods rich in beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and flavonoids;
• At the end of the meal, opt for the consumption of fresh seasonal fruit, rather than for sweets.