The Age Of
Antioxidants
Antioxidants
are the new buzzword nutritionists are adopting today.
Nutritionally speaking: they can protect and preserve you gainst
he ravages of aging. Antioxidants neutralize the free radicals
that are death to cells and devastating to tissue. Vitamin C,
Vitamin E, beta carotene, and selenium are all antioxidants that
protect your cells and tissue and hence retard aging.
Phytochemicals
from plants - you find them in fruits and vegetables - can also
work wonders as antioxidants, but that is only the beginning of
the singular benefits that come from eating blueberries and
strawberries.
In a study
of older rats by the United States Department of Agriculture's
Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in
Boston, Massachusetts, blueberry extracts actually seemed to
reverse the effects of aging by improving coordination and
increasing balance.
Spinach and
strawberry extracts also showed benefits. "The exciting
finding from this study," says National Institute on Aging
health scientist administrator Molly Wagster, "is the
potential reversal of some age-related impairments in both memory
and motor coordination, especially with blueberry supplements. For
these animals at least, investigators were able to produce a
noticeable improvement within a relatively short period of time.
A next
important step in the research will be to see if the improvements
are long-lasting." The National Institute on Aging helped
fund the study. "People would have to eat a cup of
blueberries," says Tufts research psychologist Barbara
Shukitt-Hale, who participated in the study. "A spinach
salad, or a cup of strawberries a day." |
