If you have been through some of the antioxidant articles here on Epigen Nutrition, you will know that they are definitely something that you should be regularly including as part of a healthy diet.
They can help you to fight diseases, strengthen your immune system, and improve your memory plus loads more.
Here are 5 ways for you to be able to increase your antioxidant intake:
Eat Your Greens
Remember the old saying, mummy told me I wasn’t allowed to leave the table unless I ate all my vegetables?
Well you should apply that to yourself and make sure it includes loads of green leafy stuff.
Green leafy vegetables are an absolute antioxidant powerhouse as well as also being loaded with lots of other beneficial nutrients.
A great thing with them is that most green leafy vegetables contain less than 50 calories per cup, so you can enjoy all the nutrition they provide without worrying about your belly over expanding if you eat loads.
They are very versatile as well, because they can be served cold as part of a salad or enjoyed hot as a side dish with your main meal.
Have More Beans
Beans are rich, filling and can be added to a wide variety of dishes.
They have an excellent nutritional profile, including being a great source if dietary fiber.
Plus they are packed full of antioxidants along with other health boosting vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.
Like the green leafy stuff, you can have beans hot with almost any main meal or cold as a salad ingredient.
Add Some Berries
Berries can be juicy, sweet, refreshing and come in at less than 100 calories per cup.
As well as delivering a high supply of various nutritional vitamins and minerals, berries are also a great source of antioxidants such as, anthocyanins, manganese and vitamin C.
They can taste perfectly ok on their own but can also be enjoyed as a tasty fruit salad, as a smoothie ingredient, or even as a Greek yogurt topping.
Try Snacking on Nuts
Some nuts can be very high in calories, but if you eat them in moderation they can be a good way of topping up on your antioxidants as well as giving that extra bit of a nutritional boost.
Like beans, they are a really good source of dietary fiber, but have the added bonus of being a good source of protein and healthy fats.
What makes them a good snacking food is that they are easy to carry with you and ready to eat whenever you fancy them, just pull out a handful and you are ready to go.
However, you don’t have to just have them for snacking.
You can chop them up to add to salads, ground them up and add to smoothies or fry and serve with meat or fish.
Drink Some Antioxidants
Eating isn’t the only way to make sure you get your full quota of antioxidants each day.
Antioxidant rich drinks such as green tea, white tea, black tea and even coffee, contain large amounts of these health promoting nutrients and are completely free of calories, which can make them a great alternative to just drinking water.
So there you go, by following some of these five tips, you will find that you can easily get all the antioxidants you need to get you on your way to a healthier life.
