Antioxidants and Probiotics

Okay everyone...you might be wondering why in the world am I blogging about antioxidants and probiotics. Recently, James and I have been having conversations about our eating habits, and although we have both cut our "sweets" intakes drastically, I have always wanted to be more informed about nutrition buzz words such as antioxidants and probiotics. Really I am writing this more for my education and understanding of these things to help encourage healthy, natural eating habits...but maybe they will be helpful for you too. This is only based on a few websites, (a couple are listed below), and is a quick summary.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/probiotics/AN00389


http://www.healthcastle.com/antioxidant.shtml



Probiotics:
Probiotics are basically good bacteria that can help aid in digestion and fight off bad bacteria. Early research is showing that probiotics may help with the following things:
* Treat diarrhea, especially following treatment with certain antibiotics
* Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections
* Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
* Reduce bladder cancer recurrence
* Shorten the duration of intestinal infections
* Prevent and treat inflammation following colon surgery (pouchitis)
* Prevent eczema in children

I don't want to get too personal, but some of these things have affected our family, and I would love it if I could find a way to help curb some of these less than enjoyable situations.

The most common food to get probiotics from is yogurt, but there are also other foods, and supplements that have them as well. I read that when you look for a supplement you need to make sure it has enough coating to make it through your stomach acid so that it can help where it really needs to...the intestines and colon area.

Antioxidants:
The benefit of antioxidants is to help to prevent cell and tissue damage from "free radicals" that could lead to cellular damage and disease.
Free radicals can disrupt a living cell, and if free-radical production becomes excessive damage can occur.

Many sources said that the best way to get the amount of antioxidants that you need is to eat a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, rather than taking supplements. This is not new news to me...but more meaningful now.


Where to get antioxidants:

Vitamin A
Vital for vision, particularly night vision
Repairs tissue and bone
Involved in reproduction and fetal development
Helps the immune system to fight off infections from bacteria and viruses

Where to find it:
eggs, milk, liver, dark green and rich yellow/orange vegetables and fruits...particularly cantaloupe, carrots, and sweet potatoes.
Women should get 700ug/day, men should get 900ug/day.

Vitamin C
Help with the formation of collagen,
Helps with the formation of bones, and teeth,
provides some wound healing
helps resist infection and help treat the common cold

Where to find it:
red bell peppers, kiwi, oranges, broccoli, strawberries, tomato juice, watermelon, potatoes, bananas, carrots
Women should get 75mg, men should get 90mg.

Selenium
Has show to control cell damage that may lead to cancer, especially prostate or colon cancer
400mcg/day is safe.

Where to find it:
fish, shellfish, red meat, grains, eggs, chicken and garlic

Vitamin E
Vegetable Oils, nuts, green and leafy vegetables, flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Other antioxidant-rich foods:
corn, butternut squash, mango, tomatoes, watermelon, purple and blue berries, soy,
red wine, concord grapes, pomegranate, cranberries, tea, flax seed, oatmeal, and barley.