What foods are rich in antioxidants?

Q: Given all the mixed reviews for antioxidant supplements, I’d like to incorporate more antioxidant-rich foods into my diet. What foods are the best sources?

A: Single antioxidants, like vitamin E or beta carotene, have never lived up to the hype that they halt heart disease, cure cancer, eradicate eye disease, or prevent Alzheimer’s. But the notion that antioxidants are good for you comes from studies showing that people who eat foods rich in antioxidants have better long-term health.

Antioxidants stabilize harmful by-products of the body’s energy-making machinery. These by-products, known as free radicals, can damage DNA, make LDL (bad) cholesterol even worse, and wreak havoc elsewhere in the body.

It’s possible that single antioxidants haven’t panned out because it takes a network of antioxidants — like those that exist in foods — to neutralize free radicals. If that’s the case, then it would be helpful to determine the antioxidant content of various foods. An international team of researchers has done just that. See below for the foods that top the list.

Cooking appears to increase the antioxidant potential of most foods, with the exception of grains such as rice, pasta, and corn grits, which show lower levels after cooking.

The researchers were careful not to claim that eating foods at the top of the list will keep you healthy. Instead, they believe that rating the antioxidant potential of different foods could help test whether antioxidants really do prevent disease. In the meantime, the list toppers are healthy foods, so don’t hesitate to dig in.

This Q&A first appeared in the December 2006 Harvard Heart Letter, available at www.health.harvard.edu/heart.