LCHQ food is naturally rich in antioxidants—ingredients that can easily be summed up as your elixir of life. If you didn’t have antioxidants in your body, you would not be alive for very long. In proof of this, there are some genetic diseases that cause an inability to produce certain antioxidants, thereby reducing life expectancy significantly.
Your body receives antioxidants both of its own production and from the food that you eat—at least, it will if you eat the proper food. In fact, such “proper” food is often considered healthy precisely because of its high level of antioxidants. Berries, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, seeds, cold pressed oils, root vegetables, mushrooms, game, fish, seafood, spices, herbs, tea, coffee, chocolate, and red wine are all extremely good sources of antioxidants.
Antioxidants protect your proteins from oxidizing, which ensures that the bad cholesterol LDL (which predominantly consists of protein) doesn’t go rancid and get stuck in your blood vessels. In this way, you avoid heart attacks. This also protects your DNA, thereby reducing your risk for cancer and premature aging. Your immune system works more effectively if your body contains antioxidants, and as a special bonus, they’re anti-inflammatory. Many antioxidants are also described as having the ability to widen your blood vessels, thereby keeping your blood pressure low.
Optimal absorbance
Antioxidants exist in large quantities and have varying characteristics. This is why it’s important to include a large number of various vegetables in your cooking, which fortunately happens to be one of the main aspects of the LCHQ diet.
Some antioxidants are sensitive to heat, but most of them handle it pretty well. Boiling the vegetables or making a stir fry is generally fine. Sometimes the uptake of antioxidants is improved by the cooking process. Changing the structure of the antioxidants makes them easier to digest, which in turn makes it easier for your body to absorb the nutrients. Since many antioxidants are fat-soluble and food usually contains fat, the antioxidants follow the fat into the body.
You shouldn’t cook food so long that it changes color due to the heat. This only results in a loss of antioxidants; the browned or “ruined” food surface actually indicates lost nutrition.
Which vegetables are the most sensitive?
Depending on how you measure the level of antioxidants and how you cook the food, the results tend to vary. I have specifically focused on one study that examined several vegetables that were boiled, cooked in the microwave, cooked in a pressure-cooker, fried, griddled, and baked in the oven. The artichokes were tough, and did not lose a significant number of antioxidants regardless of how they were cooked. The most sensitive vegetables were the boiled and microwaved cauliflowers, boiled peas, and boiled and fried zucchini. Beets, green beans, and garlic retained most of their antioxidants regardless of how they were cooked. Bell peppers lost some antioxidants in all the different methods of cooking, whereas celery actually increased its antioxidant content unless it was boiled, upon which it lost about 14 percent of its antioxidants. Even carrots benefited from being cooked, and they certainly improve a Bolognese sauce.
Are you wondering which cooking method was best for maintaining the level of antioxidants? Griddling, microwaving, and baking in the oven. These allowed the vegetables to maintain their initial levels of antioxidants the best, whereas pressure-cooking and boiling caused the highest loss of antioxidants. This may seem surprising, but it’s predominantly due to the fact that the boiling water pretty much drains the vegetables (30).
Tricks for increasing the antioxidant content
There are several ways to increase the level of antioxidants in the body and also to consume the right types of antioxidants. The easiest and most obvious trick is to include high-antioxidant foods in every meal, and be sure to vary the colors of the foods. Different colors indicate different types of antioxidants, and the more types you consume the better you will feel.
Research has found that you’re less likely to have damaged DNA if you consume ten servings of 100 grams of different vegetables per day than if you have a portion of, for example, one kilogram of broccoli. New studies also show that you should avoid pouring milk into your tea because this reduces access to healthy flavonoids (27). Interestingly, skim milk was the worst offender, so if you want milk in your tea, you should use milk with a high fat content. However, even those had a negative effect. It is unclear whether or not this also holds true for coffee, but I would assume so.
Because many antioxidants are fat-soluble, it’s good to consume a certain amount of fat along with the antioxidants. A sliced tomato topped with olive oil can enable you to absorb twice as many antioxidants as when you eat the tomato by itself.
Frozen antioxidants are super effective
Sometimes it’s difficult to find superfoods in the produce aisle. Sure, there are often blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries in the fruit section, but these are often over-priced and nearing their expiration date.
The same is true for super-healthy vegetables like broccoli or asparagus. The solution is the freezer aisle. Here, you’ll find the superfoods listed above, as well as several specialized products, including small packets of frozen acai puree. Acai puree is made from the Brazilian superberry that contains incredible quantities of antioxidants. It’s a great ingredient in smoothies or homemade ice cream.
The best thing about freezing is that the process is gentle toward antioxidants. Research has shown that most of the antioxidants will remain in the foods as long as they haven’t expired (29). Since frozen produce is usually cheaper, I consider it a great bargain in terms of nutrition and cost.
“Different colors indicate different types of antioxidants, and the more types you consume the better you will feel.”