There are hundreds of anti-ageing, antioxidant products out there, but there are even more antioxidants to be found in your diet. These nutrients help your body to boost wellness in countless ways, from killing off cancerous cells to preventing wrinkles. Let’s explore some of the healthy foods you can eat to reduce the appearance of ageing, as well as fighting off free radical-damage and illness. To make it easier, they all begin with the letter B!
Firstly, blackberries are a flavourful fruit with a hidden, wellness-boosting secret. Blackberries contain high levels of a potentially lifesaving flavonoid, which is a type of antioxidant. The particular flavonoid in question is rutin, and according to a 2012 study from Harvard Medical School, this antioxidant may block an enzyme which might otherwise cause your body to produce blood clots. This is important, because blocking this enzyme can lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Next, bring out the bell peppers – red bell peppers to be exact (but specifying that early on would ruin the nice B theme). Red bell peppers are superstars when it comes to boosting your immune system. They contain approximately 60% more vitamin C than green bell peppers, and you need this vitamin to trigger your body’s production of white blood cells. Not only to red bell peppers help you to fight off germs and bacteria, they may also keep you looking young. A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered that people whose diets were high in vitamin C were less prone to wrinkles. The researchers surmised this was possibly because vitamin C spurs your body to produce collagen.
The third “B” food on this list is basil, which has known medicinal properties. An antioxidant called eugenol is where one of the herb’s medicinal properties comes from, and may be important in helping you to fight and prevent cancer. According to the results of recent lab studies, this compound sparks anticarcinogenic activity in cervical cancer cells, which causes them to self-destruct.
Finally, you may hate it when they arrive on the table at Christmas, but Brussels sprouts may also help protect you against cancer. Your cells are naturally equipped with tumour-suppressing genes, and when you eat Brussels sprouts you’re giving those genes a helping hand. The sulphur compounds found in Brussels sprouts block enzymes that promote tumour growth, and a study conducted last year also found that these sulphur compounds reduce inflammation and activate cartilage-protecting proteins, which could play a key role in treating rheumatoid arthritis.
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