Antioxidants and Prostate Health  

Our bodies have plenty of free radicals in them that are threat to our health and vitality. Free radicals are actually those rebellious molecules that are unstable and wobbly. They are the wavering molecules that always seek electrons to make themselves stable. Their process of snatching electrons from other molecules results in cell damage that tends to cause multiple ailments in individuals, such as cancers, stroke, heart attack, premature ageing, and others.   

To reverse the effects of these free radicals, our defense system needs antioxidants which work by thwarting every negative effect in our organism. Antioxidants are those molecules that harmlessly get associated with free radicals and cease the harmful chain reaction before it damages beneficial molecules.  

  Antioxidants and Prostate Cancer 

It won’t be wrong to say that free radicals are the known culprits of prostate cancer. Though, we can’t catch hold of free radicals inside our bodies, we can certainly feed them good amount of antioxidants so that they do not destruct healthy molecules. One of the best methods to thwart the viciousness of free radicals, in the form of prostate cancer, is to consume antioxidant-rich foods like vegetable and fruits. Fruits and vegetable are excellent sources of antioxidants that provide electrons to free radicals and keep them at bay from healthy molecules.

Some of the prominent antioxidants that can prevent individuals from maladies of prostate cancer include – vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin E, selenium, lycopene, genistein, green tea catechins, quercetin, polyphenols, and resveratrol.    

• Let us learn how to identify those fruits and vegetables that contain antioxidants and are known to restrain prostate cancer.    
• Foods that contain beta-carotene in them are usually orange, yellow-orange, or dark green in color. These foods consist of cantaloupe, apricots, carrots, broccoli and mangoes. 
• Vitamin C is usually found in fresh fruits and vegetables such as berries, spinach, citrus fruit, and green & red bell peppers. 
•   Tomato is a wonderful source of an antioxidant named Lycopene. It is also found in guavas, water melon, persimmons, basil, and asparagus.  
• Foods that are rich in Quercetin are raspberries, apples, green and black tea, red wine, red grapes, onions, and broccoli. This antioxidant is known to block those male hormones that cause prostate cancer. 
• Resveratrol is another antioxidant that is present in red grapes, red wine, cranberries, peanuts, and blueberries.  
•   Polyphenols are abundantly present in wide variety of fruits and vegetables like blackberries, blueberries, black grapes, cherries, black currants, kale, parsley, kiwi, yellow onions and plums. 
• Contrary to belief that antioxidant rich foods have vibrant colors, selenium and Vitamin E are found in oil, whole grain cereals, wheat germ, soybeans, sea foods, lean meats, sunflower seeds, whole wheat foods and Brazil nuts. 

Antioxidants and Prostate Health - Intake Tips 

• Get major part of antioxidants from fresh fruits and vegetables so that micronutrients reach body in their basic form.  
• Consume tomatoes in their fresh form sans any edible chemical or preservative. However, they can also be cooked in olive oil to enhance bioavailability of lycopene. 
• Consume two to three cups of sugarless green tea. They are the super storehouse of antioxidants.