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Antioxidants Slow Damage of Free Radicals- InViteⓇ Health Podcast, Episode 575

Hosted by Melissa Bistricer, RDN

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InViteⓇ Health Podcast Intro: Welcome to the InViteⓇ Health Podcast, where our degreed healthcare professionals are excited to offer you the most important health and wellness information you need to make informed choices about your health. You can learn more about the products discussed in each of these episodes and all that InViteⓇ Health has to offer at www.invitehealth.com/podcast. First time customers can use promo code PODCAST at checkout for an additional 15% off your first purchase. Let’s get started!†

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Melissa Bistricer, RDN: [00:00:40] Welcome back to another podcast here at InViteⓇ Health. The topic we’ll be discussing today is antioxidants. So many people get confused. What are antioxidants? Are they beneficial for me? Does my body naturally produce antioxidants? Since we oftentimes hear a lot about powerful antioxidants, do we really know what they are and how they benefit our health?† [00:01:02]

[00:01:03] My name is Melissa Bistricer and I am a registered dietitian. I am so excited to bring to you the nutritional aspect of nutrients here at InViteⓇ Health. Nutrition food for thought: if cauliflower can become pizza, then you, my friend, can do anything. InViteⓇ Health promotes an integrative approach and providing vitamins into your daily life to increase your quality of life in conjunction with nutrients, it is also important to learn and include other lifestyle modifications like nutrition, exercise and sleep. These practices with the use of vitamins will promote optimal benefit in your daily life. † [00:01:40]

[00:01:41] Antioxidants simply are in foods or supplements that can help prevent or slow any damage to cells caused by free radicals. Free radicals, also known as oxidative stress, are molecules that are produced generally when the body is breaking down foods. Free radicals can be produced in the body internally through inflammation or externally through pollution, UV exposure and cigarette smoking. Antioxidants can oftentimes be called free radicals scavengers. Our bodies need antioxidants in order to balance out the free radicals that keep them from causing damage to other cells in the body. Antioxidants have the ability to protect and even reverse some of the damage from free radicals and also boost our overall and immune health. Antioxidants are found naturally in fruits, vegetables and legumes. Prospective studies have shown that an increase in these vegetables, fruits and legumes, have helped to actually lower the risk of chronic oxidative stress related to diseases such as heart health, cancer or other related death caused diseases. † [00:02:47]

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[00:02:49] There are tons and tons of supplements I could recommend you that are extremely powerful antioxidants. Each antioxidant has been seen to have its own role and interact differently depending on the condition or person is taking an antioxidant. Antioxidants is not the name of the supplement, it’s just the umbrella with tons and tons of antioxidants that fall under that. Our bodies actually naturally produce two antioxidants, one called alpha lipoic acid. And the next glutathione. Glutathione is a combination of three amino acids that helps circulation, anti aging and protects our cells, tissues and organs in the body, to keep us looking younger longer. Though, as we age, the body starts to decline, making glutathione, which is our master antioxidant. Therefore, older adults may need a boost and take a glutathiamin supplement to ensure they continue to get the antioxidants to prevent damaging to the cells, tissues and organs. † [00:03:51]

[00:03:52] There are also other antioxidants that are found from sources outside of the body. They consist of vitamin A, C, E, beta carotene, lycopene, lutein, selenium, magnesium and zeaxanthin. Every single antioxidant has a different, important role in the body. Therefore, it is extremely important we get a balanced diet with a variety of fruits, vegetables and legumes. So when you hear about eating the rainbow, we really, really mean eat the rainbow because you really want to focus on getting all the different benefits from each antioxidant group. Mostly antioxidants are found in plant based foods, but can also be supplemented as we age to help the body along to reduce the risk of oxidative stress or any disease conditions. † [00:04:39]

[00:04:41] Let me go through the food sources. This way you get a really good idea of what a balanced diet looks like and you hit all the categories of an antioxidant for vitamin A. We want to consume dairy products, eggs or liver. For Vitamin C, the most common one. Most of you are thinking already oranges, but you can also find them in berries, bell peppers and most fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E as in nuts, seeds such as sunflower seeds, vegetable oil and green leafy vegetables. Beta carotene, I like to think of orange vegetables as carrots, sweet potatoes and mangoes. Lycopene, the first one that comes to my mind is tomatoes and watermelon. So think pink, red fruits and vegetables. Lutein is in green vegetables such as leafy vegetables, corn, papaya or oranges as well. Lastly, we have selenium, which we all see is in corn, rice, wheat and whole grains. We also see them in eggs, cheese and legumes. † [00:05:39]

[00:05:40] Not only the vegetables, fruits that you eat are important, but we also want to note the cooking method. We want the vegetables to stay vibrant in their color, to have the most nutritional value. For example, studies have shown cooking tomatoes longer, which has lycopene, is actually easier for the body to absorb and break down. So you want to cook your tomatoes longer. For other vegetables though, we want to cook them shorter, such as cauliflower, spinach, broccoli or green beans. The best way is to steam them rather than boil or roast them. This way the vegetables are still vibrant in color and still contain all their nutritional value. The best tip I can give you is to invest in a good steamer and steam your vegetables for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the vegetables. They may be longer until they are fork tender. † [00:06:32]

[00:06:33] If you feel like you don’t eat the rainbow daily with fruits and vegetables in your diet, there are options for supplement as well. There are pill forms and there are powder forms. A couple of our supplements that are antioxidants in pill forms is alpha lipoic acid, black seed with rosemary, glutathione or Green Tea Hx. We also have our Reds Hx and Greens Hx, and these two are powders forms, but they are super powerful antioxidants. I highly recommend if you’re not going to get good sources of fruits and vegetables each day that you try our Reds and Greens Hx’s. They are a great comprehensive supplement with tons of nutrients and value within each powder. They can be added to a smoothie, water, yogurt or even unsweetened applesauce. All you need is one scoop of Reds Hx, one scoop of Greens Hx and it’s like you’re getting the rainbow in two scoops. But as I always say, it’s best to get it from your fruits and vegetables. But if you feel like you can’t, then these are great secondary options. † [00:07:41]

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[00:07:42] I can go on and on and talk about each antioxidant supplement and the benefit of each specifically, but we would be here for days. So I just wanted to touch upon one really amazing product that InViteⓇ Health has called Bluegranate Tx. Two very powerful antioxidants combined into one liquid herbal tincture form. This is blueberries and pomegranate. Blueberries are amazing to support brain and memory health. Pomegranate extract helps support circulation, heart and blood vessels, pomegranate, also has the ability to deactivate and break down toxins in the body. I think this is definitely calls for us to use the Bluegranate Tx. All you need to do is add a full dropper each day to water, smoothies or yogurt. It has a very mild taste, so most likely you won’t really taste it. And it’s so powerful. So why not try it today? This tincture will help to promote additional antioxidants in the body. And what better way to do that than adding a little bit of flavor into your water and not having to take any more pills or adding any more pills into your daily supplement regiment? Getting exposure can look like this. First off, I always recommend diet changes diet rich in plant based foods to get the rainbow of fruits and vegetables in order to get all the powerful antioxidants. Though as we age, we want to make sure that since the body is slowing down in producing alpha lipoic acid and glutathiamin to start taking supplements to help increase those antioxidants naturally produced by the body. If you are not a big vegetable or fruit person, again, we do have two supplements called Reds Hx and Greens Hx to help you get the rainbow fruits and vegetables. Powerful antioxidants will help reduce the risk of chronic health conditions.† [00:09:38]

[00:09:39] Lastly, our liquid tincture called Bluegranate Tx is a great supplement to help memory, brain health, circulation, blood vessels and heart health. So you can go check out our supplement, Glutathiamin Alpha Lipoic Acid, Reds Hx, Greens Hx, Black Seed with Rosemary, Bluegranate Tx or Green Tea Hx. There are so many more on our page, so definitely go check it out. They’re all sold at invitehealth.com. Go check it out. I highly recommend you contact one of our nutritionists here to help you decide which antioxidant is best for you because there are tons and tons to choose from. If you have any further questions, you can always chat with me as a dietitian or any of our health care providers to assist you here at invitehealth.com. My email is [email protected]. † [00:10:31]

[00:10:35] I am Melissa Bistricer, RDN, ready to share the knowledge to help you modify your lifestyle to live a happier and more successful life. I am looking forward to continuing to provide you with educational podcasts and blog posts. I want to thank you so much for tuning in to the InViteⓇ Health podcast. Remember, you can find all our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting invitehealth.com/podcast. Again, Nutrition Food for thought. If cauliflower can become pizza, then you, my friend, can do anything. Have a great day and tune in for the next podcast coming your way soon. † [00:10:35]

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