If you hope to remain healthy for a long time and you want to avoid cancer and heart disease and many other ailments, you need to start thinking about what you are putting into your body. The foods you eat have a drastic effect on the condition of your body and your mood. By eating healthful foods, you will begin to look and feel better. But what types of foods should you eat? You may have heard the term ‘antoxidant’ but you may not have heard of the term ‘polyphenol’. Essentially polyphenols represent certain types of antioxidants and they are found in foods like onions, Cacao, tea, apples, red wine, citrus fruit, berries and soy, just to name a few. Even if you think you’re already healthy and even if you take a daily multi-vitamin, you can still gain a number of healthful benefits from consuming these types of foods on a regular basis.
The Benefits of Polyphenols
When you consume polyphenols on a regular basis, you become healthier in a number of ways. You may not see the effects right away. But over time the free radicals in your body will begin to be eliminated and you will begin to feel more robust and healthy. You may even see a boost in your energy.
But the most important benefits of eating foods high in polyphenols include:
Anti-Inflammatory: Most polyphenols have anti-inflammatory properties. This is good news for anyone who suffers from arthritis or any other condition where inflammation is a problem.
Heart Health: Consuming these types of foods can have great benefits on the cardiovascular system, and can actually help to improve heart health.
Prevent Cancer: Many studies have shown that polyphenols contain anti-tumor and anti-carcinogenic properties. This is great news for anyone who may be genetically predisposed to the “C” word.
Prevent Heart Disease: There have been many studies that show that polyphenols in red wine can help to keep heart disease at bay.
Anti-Aging: The science is still out, but many experts believe that polyphenols, even applied topically, can reduce the effects of aging.
So you see that eating these types of foods can not only keep you from getting sick, but they can help you look and feel years younger. And this is all without surgery or drugs. It all comes from making smart selections at the grocery store.
Can You Take Supplements?
You can of course consume polyphenols in pill or tablet form, but it is always best to eat the variety of foods that contain these antioxidants. The more of these foods you eat and the more regularly you eat them, the more benefits you will gain. You can take supplements if you absolutely have to in order to get these healing properties into your body, but again why wouldn’t you want to eat these healthful and delicious foods?
By changing what you eat, you can cause a positive change to the quality of your life. So the next time you’re at the grocery store, try picking up some onions, some red wine, some apples and some green tea. You don’t have to change your diet much. Just slip these foods in wherever you can and you’ll keep illness and disease at bay while you enjoy a wide variety of foods that not only help you feel good but they taste good, too.
