No one can be against antioxidants

In the past year, our health and resistance were more central than ever before. We went to the kitchen en masse to prepare healthy meals, exercise together at 1.5 meters and we went to bed a little earlier to get enough sleep. We all tried to live a little healthier to boost our immune system and make us more resilient to the damage from within and without. However, this has a downside. Part of the population was busy getting as many vitamins and minerals as possible by means of, among other things, antioxidant bombs and vitamins in pill or powder form ¹ . But does the body really need these artificial additives?

Antioxidants is a collective name for various bioactive substances, including vitamins, minerals and trace elements ² . Antioxidants are very important for our body, as our body is exposed to free radicals ² . Free radicals are substances that can cause damage in our body: they arise during a healthy metabolism during oxidation processes, but they can also be caused by external influences ² . The amount of free radicals depends, among other things, on alcohol consumption, medication use, exposure to unhealthy air and smoking ² . Make-up use and UV radiation also influence this. An excess of free radicals in the body can result in oxidative stress ² . In oxidative stress, free radicals cause tissue and DNA damage in cells ² .

After reading about all the negative consequences of these free radicals, it is understandable that we all want to get as many antioxidants as possible and grab nutritional supplements in which these heroes play the leading role. The good news is that with a good diet, ie a diet in which you eat a healthy and varied diet with sufficient fruit and vegetables, you do not need (expensive) nutritional supplements ² . The advice is therefore to get your nutrients from a varied diet, so you get enough antioxidants. This way you can keep your hard-earned snacks in your pocket!

Foods that contain a lot of antioxidants are mainly vegetables with bright colors, such as: carrots, pumpkin, peppers, broccoli, etc. But also: eggs, dairy products, potatoes, citrus fruit, strawberries and berries, olive oil, nuts, whole grains, crustaceans and shellfish, and mango ³ . Even chocolate contains a lot of antioxidants, isn't that great news?! ³

Sources :

1. Dalen, R. (2020, 23 November). Pills against corona at the drugstore: do they really work against the virus or is that an illusion? Newspaper of the North.
2. Nutrition Center. (nd-b). Antioxidants .
3. BonDuo. (nd). Antioxidants: great from food, but be careful with supplements . Accessed October 10, 2019