If you’ve been keeping up with the posts on antioxidants, you’re now more aware of how and why antioxidants are beneficial in repairing cell damage. You’ve also learned which foods are high in antioxidants and now know which fruits, vegetable, and foods in general are good sources of antioxidants.
If you’ve been paying attention, you also realize that it’s going to be very difficult for you to achieve the recommended levels of antioxidants without radically changing your diet. The USDA now recommends that we consume 3,000 – 5,000 ORAC units daily. The recommended “5 a day” fruit and vegetables servings formerly stressed by nutrition experts and our government only delivers about 1,750 units. That’s why the current recommendations stands at 10-13 servings of fruits and vegetables PER DAY.
In simple math, the recommendations has more than doubled despite the fact that only about 25% of Americans were even meeting the lower standard in 2007 as reported by the American Cancer Society.
For most people, achieving 3,000 – 5,000 ORAC units a day of antioxidants means eating a lot more which can have an adverse effect on your caloric intake. Additionally, fruits and vegetables tend to require more trips to the store (or farmer’s market) and more kitchen prep time than packaged convenience foods which many people are reluctant to add to their already hectic schedules. Finally, this level of fruit and vegetable consumption may just be unpalatable to some people. If you dislike your foods, you won’t stick with the change.
The multibillion dollar supplement industry would like you to believe that all you have to do is keep eating what you want and add the right supplement pills to your diet. It’s why when you walk into any supermarket, national discount chain or vitamin retailer, you see rows and rows of vitamins, dietary aids and nutritional supplements. And many of them make antioxidant claims as part of their advertising message. The truth is there is no better sources of nutrients than whole foods.
It takes a full set of supporting complementary nutrients for your body to get the benefits of proper nutrition. We simply cannot produce a supplement more perfect than Mother Nature. There’s almost no replacement or substitute for eating a balanced diet of whole foods and juices including fruits, vegetables, protein and antioxidants. However, whole food concentrates and whole juices do deliver the full antioxidant power without shortcuts. But, make sure that the product you choose is made with the whole food not just the clarified juice. (If you don’t like pulp, sorry you are out of luck!) These products are a way to get the phytonutrients and antioxidants in a convenient delivery system without the added calories or hassles.
What that means for consumers is that you can eat a normal amount of fruits and vegetables combined with other foods you like, and still get beneficial levels of antioxidants via a whole food juice made from antioxidant-rich foods such as acai berry, pomegranate, acerola, maqui, blueberry and others.
Remember that consistency is the key. Your body is exposed to toxins and stressors every day and antioxidants play a vital role in repairing that damage. This must be done daily before the damage becomes permanent. So, if you aren’t getting 3,000-5,000 ORAC units per day from a typical 10-13 servings of fruits and vegetables, consider a whole food juice product such as MonaVie.
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| This post written by MonaVie Independent Distributor #1573640 | |
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