Antioxidant juices, do they fulfill their promise?
Caring for our body and health is a mission that we all assume. For this the practice of exercise and good nutrition are fundamental pieces. In some cases, they also resort to products that ensure they contribute to keeping us in shape, such as juices antioxidants made with natural fruit.
But do they keep their promise? Do they provide antioxidants to those who consume them? According to Organization of consumers and users, OCU, not as much as their packages indicate. Perhaps the amount of fruits that show their ingredients make the user think that they will be able to stop the oxidation, but they must understand that there are no miraculous products and that a juice can not count on so many properties.
Proportion of ingredients
OCU explains that these drinks do contain antioxidant ingredients although the problem is that not to the extent to provide all the benefits indicated in the envelope. To illustrate this issue, he gives the example of orange, which has vitamin C, an element that helps in the prevention of oxidation, although only a sixth of this fruit has these properties.
In the case of antioxidant beverages, they can be advertised as products with these properties since they have ingredients that comply with this premise. But not in the necessary proportion so that the body benefits from them. OCU also explains that during the creation processes of these products: squeezing, packaging treatments, addition of other elements, etc., many of these characteristics are also lost.
For this reason, it is advisable to take these antioxidant products in their "natural containers"That is to say, to take fruit without converting into juices, as this way the properties of these foods will be better assimilated by the person, in this sense the one that is available to everyone is vitamin C, a very present element in oranges .
Diet rich in antioxidants
As expressed by OCU, it is better to take a diet rich in antioxidants in natural format. Here are some tips to have a menu rich in these products:
- Lycopene. The tomato is the vegetable richest in antioxidants to promote fertility. It has a very effective substance called lycopene that is absorbed when ingested together with oil. It has a greater activity against oxidative stress so even fried tomato is recommended.
- Carotenoids. They are natural colorants present in carrots, citrus fruits, spinach or corn, which are capable of neutralizing some of the most aggressive free radicals.
- Antioxidants. The fruits that have more antioxidants are the bright colors like strawberries. But, above all of them, the pomegranate stands out. They are also present in other foods such as turmeric or phytoestrogens such as soy extracts.
- Resveratrol. It is a polyphenol derived from the skin of the grape and present in red wine, and xanthohumol derived from hops and a component of beer.
Damián Montero