Antioxidants can be extremely good for your health. They may help to prevent conditions such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. Common antioxidants include vitamins E and C, carotene, lutein and lycopene. In research published in January 2010 in "Nutrition Journal," scientist Monica Carlsen of the University of Oslo and several of her colleagues studied the antioxidant content of more than 3,000 foods. In general, they found that plant-based foods tend to be richer in antioxidants than those that come from animals.
Walnuts
Walnuts are the kings of the seeds and nuts category, with 21.9 millimoles of antioxidants per 100g. (The measurement is abbreviated mmol/100g.) Pecans, sunflower seeds and chestnuts also pack an antioxidant punch, albeit to a far lesser degree: their mean antioxidant content in the range of 4.7 to 8.5 mmol/100g, according to the "Nutrition Journal" article.
Espresso
Coffee can be an excellent source of antioxidants, according to the "Nutrition Journal" article. But the amount varies widely depending on the type of coffee. Espresso tends to be richest in antioxidants, at 14.2 mmol/100g. Among 54 prepared coffees tested from 16 manufacturers, one type of brewed coffee with milk had only 0.89 mmol/100g. A certain variety of double espresso, on the other hand, contained 16.33 mmol/100g.
Amla
Berries tend to be high in antioxidant content, and that is especially true for the amla, a type of Indian gooseberry. Dried samples contain 261.5 mmol/100g. Of 113 berries and berry products tested, 25th percentile was 1.90 mmol/100g and the 75th percentile was 6.31 mmol/100g.
Cloves
Cloves are hard to beat if you are looking for an antioxidant-rich spice. Dried samples contain 277.3 mmol/100g. Other contenders in the herbs and spices category include cinnamon, oregano, sage, thyme, saffron, rosemary, allspice and estragon.
Chocolate
Dark chocolate samples ran as high as 14.98 mmol/100g in the study cited in "Nutrition Journal." Antioxidant levels rose with the amount of cocoa in the product. The lowest antioxidant content was found in white chocolate, with
0.23 mmol/100g.
Member Comments