Why Antioxidants Are Important

The normal process of aging causes cells to breakdown within the body, and our bodies are always replenishing by getting rid of damaged cells and replacing them with new cells. These damaged cells are known as “free radicals,” and they can cause serious health problems such as cancer, heart disease, and numerous other life-threatening illnesses.

As we get older, the body has a harder time keeping up with the cleanup process, which means that we are more likely to be affected by disease and illness. Additionally, if we are following an unhealthy lifestyle, there will be more internal damage that needs to be taken care of because unhealthy lifestyles cause more free radicals to occur.

Luckily, the body has a natural system in place to get rid of the free radicals. When antioxidants are consumed, they work to get rid of the free radicals within your body. Even though damage naturally occurs on a daily basis, a sufficient amount of antioxidants and phytochemical will effectively clean up the free radicals, and even repair damage that has already occurred.

How to Get Antioxidants

The human body is unable to create antioxidants on its own, so it is necessary to eat foods that are high in these nutrients. It is also important to note that when antioxidants are used to get rid of free radicals, they cannot be used again. This means that it is essential for you to constantly re-supply your body with plenty of foods that are high in antioxidants.

Antioxidants are found in plant based foods such as: fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, and whole grains. Actually, many different types of antioxidants can be gained by eating different types of food, so it is best to eat a variety of these foods on a daily basis. There are not found in animal product or refined foods.

Here are some of the antioxidants that are available in our food… you may be surprised to learn that there are a few nutrients that you recognize: beta carotene, selenium, zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin E. These are just a few of the antioxidants that are available; there are many others that can be gained by eating natural, nutrient rich foods, also known as “nutrient dense” foods.

According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Healthy Times Newsletter No. 32, antioxidants work within the body to locate free radicals and destroy them so that they are harmless. Some of the best antioxidants are available in cruciferous vegetables, and these foods contain phytochemicals that fight the free radicals and actually activate an antioxidant control system within the body that are fueled by these essential nutrients. 

On the other hand, getting antioxidants from a supplement will fight the free radicals one at a time, but the control system is not activated to continue fighting. Sometimes those supplements may cause even more problems, because they create more free radicals within the body. So, the best source of antioxidants is from nutrient rich foods.

The Best Sources of Antioxidants

Some people mistakenly think that they can improve their health by simply taking a supplement or drinking a high quality juice each day. So, they take their supplement in the morning, and then proceed to go about their day eating any kind of unhealthy junk food products that they want. This practice is not beneficial; you will not have health you can count on, if you choose to follow this pattern!

These unhealthy, refined foods are loaded with harmful chemicals, preservatives, and additives. No amount of “super-juice” can make up for the damage that is caused by these products. Additionally, there are so many types of antioxidants that are available in nutrient rich foods, making it virtually, no actually “completely” impossible to get all of the nutrients that you need in a single supplement.

Instead of looking for a supplement to improve your health, your best option is to eat more nutrient rich foods rich in antioxidants and other phytochemicals. Some of the best types of food to eat are the fruits and vegetables that are bright in color. For example, here are a few fruits and vegetables that will provide your body with a good source of antioxidants: any type of green leafy vegetable, berries, bell peppers, oranges, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, cantaloupe, etc.

Including fresh fruits and vegetables with every meal will protect your health, and provide your body with the nutrients that it needs to fight the free radicals and prevent disease. Remember that every little bit helps, so start eating more fruits and vegetables throughout the day to improve your overall health.

Here at NutrientRich.com you are learning that it's not just a matter of adding more antioxidant rich foods to your diet on top of the typical SAD (standard American diet) foods most people eat, but that for maximum health which yields all the benefits many hear about but never come close to experiencing, you develop an eating plan that is "90% or More Plant-Based Nutrient Rich!"

Talk about getting lots of antioxidants; these foods need to make up the majority of what you eat.

That's how you stay healthy!

According to health and lifestyle expert and NutrientRich.com founder John Allen Mollenhauer, the free webinar will provide a comprehensive but easy-to-understand  overview of the Nutrient Rich phenomenon. "In the last several years, we have seen a huge spike in interest about Nutrient Rich foods and how incorporating these wholesome foods into a person's diet can dramatically improve one's health and lifestyle," said Mollenhauer. "The most important aspect of helping people "Switch to Rich" is to educate them on the basics of a Nutrient Rich diet and to teach them how simple and fun it can be to make the switch – from shopping and cooking to feeling the transition benefits of weight-loss and overall health."

Medical and nutritional experts all agree that foods rich in nutrients are a vital part of fighting disease and maintaining health. Mollenhauer has dedicated his life to helping people achieve their goals through healthy lifestyles and eating Nutrient Rich foods is one of the key ingredients for success.  

The free, online webinar has limited space but is open to the general public. In addition to the April event, NutrientRich.com has also launched www.NutrientRichRadio.com, a free podcast program that highlights the Nutrient Rich market place all in support of healthy eating. 

For more information about the free webinar, please visit www.nutrientrich.com.

For an interview with webinar presenter John Allen Mollenhauer, please contact Peter Bowman at (609)209-5752 or by email peter@peterbowman.com

A Nutrient Rich Diet is guided by the Nutritarian Food Pyramid created by Joel Fuhrman M.D., the leader in high nutrient density nutritional research and education.

A Nutrient Rich diet is based primarily on real, whole natural foods of plant origin. In our current market most of the foods sold are packaged as “natural” when they are in fact inherently not natural, nor nutrient rich, and while animal foods are arguably considered “whole foods” in the market, they are not considered “nutrient rich” either. Ref: The Food Class System.

A Nutrient Rich diet includes raw and cooked foods with a smaller percentage of cooked foods, but can be raw or high-raw if you want it to be. Some foods can increase in nutritional value when cooked conservatively and substantial nutrients are neither lost or destroyed. (Example: Soups)

A Nutrient Rich diet can include small amounts of animal products – ideally wild, grass fed or farm-raised – if you eat them. Many people feel better eating small amounts of animal products in their diet for a variety of reasons, although this is not essential for healthy eating.

A Nutrient Rich diet can include processed foods where the nutrient value and integrity are maintained. (Example: smoothies, hummus and chopped salads…)

A Nutrient Rich diet eliminates and/or limits refined foods where the nutrients are stripped out and pleasure stimulating chemicals are either left in or added which can cause addiction, over consumption and rapid increase of insulin levels and disease potential.

A Nutrient Rich diet is able to creatively duplicate the same pleasing effects of traditional junk food without the harmful result of overly refined products. You can actually have your cake and eat it too; although this is technically not “natural” even if made from whole natural, nutrient dense foods that are processed and the nutrient value and integrity are maintained.

A Nutrient Rich diet can be customized to the individual based on their genetic predisposition, blood tests, and prior conditions with the help of a qualified health care practitioner. Environment, present situation, preferences and goals also play a big role. Supplementation may be essential, even though you are eating a nutrient-rich diet.

A Nutrient Rich diet is a lifestyle decision that works with your body’s natural systems.

A Nutrient Rich diet is the cornerstone of a successful lifestyle that is health promoting. 

Ref: The Food Class System

1. We eat the standard American diet (SAD) – including limited amounts of 1st class nutrient rich foods.
Basically 80-90% 2nd and 3rd class foods which are nutrient poor, overly concentrated, and overly stimulating, leave us over fed, yet chronically undernourished, driving us to over consume.

2. We then eat less of the SAD otherwise known as “dieting” and this means less of the nutrient poor foods that are not serving us to begin with, or promoting our health as a whole, and this makes you feel like you’re starving, reinforces craving  and overeating. You are merely riding the fence, trying to eat better, yet predominantly nutrient poor at the same time. This is a weight gain diet, posing as a weight loss diet.

3. We get so frustrated and go back to one, because we want the freedom of “just eating” what’s there and as much as we want. S0, we head back for pleasure. Problem is we’re headed back to nutrient poor foods as the basis of our diet which undermines our health, happiness and personal performance.

4. You may go through this process (1-3) a few times. This makes sense given the strategy up until this point, doesn’t work and really can’t work for anyone.

5.  Eventually, we start to “get” that we need to being eating predominantly first class, nutrient rich foods with small amounts of second class foods if you eat them, and very small amounts of third class foods if you eat them at all; but instead of eventually going 90% of the way, or more, you sit on the fence, doing the same you’ve always done eating long shelf life animal based products, and economical, highly refined over stimulating foods because you are used to them and know them better. While eating a little bit healthier it’s not enough change to give the shift any momentum. This is the “wash your pastry down with some veggies”, “take your vitamins”, “eat healthy when I’m sick”, and the “token vegetable on the side” strategy. It always fails because while eating a little bit better is good, eating healthy is what works!

6.  We may again go back to #1.

7.  Then we get smarter and realize that we have to a) go beyond eating “plain vegetables” at a time when our taste buds are geared for sugar cereals, bagels and butter, pretzels, steak, pasta, cake… and b) let our taste buds adjust as we focusing on how to shop, organize, prepare and eating out the nutrient rich way; discovering the full breadth and depth of eating a great tasting nutrient rich diet style, and c) get into a more successful lifestyle – no wonder we get the wrong impression when it comes to eating healthy. (BTW, when it comes to eating Nutrient Rich, “boring” is a word that just does not apply).

8.  The taste bud adjustment period is the only tough time you’ll have, not because the foods you’re now choosing to eat aren’t great tasting, but because you’ll experience some withdrawal symptoms from 2nd and particularly 3rd class foods which are low in nutrients or have all the nutrients stripped out and only the pleasure inducing chemicals left in. So, while perhaps less intensive, it’s a little like getting off drugs! We have to be careful not to associate the pain of withdrawal from the lower class foods, to the emerging pleasure of health promoting, Nutrient Rich foods, which frankly taste better.

You decide to go to the next level in healthy eating!

9. Then you realize “hey there are more great tasting foods to eat, that are Simple, Quick & Easy to eat than there are days in the year! You feel good while you’re eating and even better after, and you can avoid all the dieting “traps” behind. You can just live and be free and enjoy all the discovery of nutrient rich foods, from fast to gourmet made from predominantly, if not all, first class foods – vegetables, fruits, legumes/beans, raw nuts and seeds, whole unrefined grains and natural seasonings, sauces and gravies that make already great tasting foods taste even better!!

10. You may again go back to testing the old foods, but this is only normal! Just do it, get the experience and press on towards eating first class Nutrient Rich foods anyway.

11.  After a while your taste buds shift and you realize you are achieving weight loss in the process of getting incredibly healthy. And there is no reason to turn back to foods that make you overweight and sick, despite the fact that they are designed to stimulate your taste buds and they still will. But eventually you resolve to say that the secondary effects of these food stuffs, beyond the initial pleasure-inducing chemical “hits”, can not be tolerated by your body, so you go after more of a good thing! More great tasting health promoting nutrient rich foods that give you optimal health and the foundation for high performance.

12.        You realize that weight loss is just one of the many benefits of something bigger and more important – health and high performance. During this phase you can lose a lot of weight as your body starts getting healthy food consistently for maybe the first time in your life. There are many dynamics going on during this phase but the biggest is that your body begins a major transition towards health and literally rebuilds itself using better quality foods.This is a very fun period!

13.        High performance is now possible because your body IS nutrient rich always satiated and full. Combined with the other aspects of a PerformanceLifestyle – you start getting a real handle on your lifestyle and   become very passionate.

14.       You start setting goals that are not food based, but life based and you begin to realize that the better you eat, the better you are able to function and perform. You leave the obsession with dieting in the past and continue to learn and make new distinctions about how you are eating, thinking and living.

15.        You start living your life at the next level, no longer mired in diet traps, and low level concepts that keep you stuck, you get it and get on with your life focused on bigger and better things.

Again, there are lots of little steps and dynamics that go on in this process, but these are the basic steps a person goes through when they are transitioning to a nutrient rich diet.

Read them again and again.

The most nutrient dense foods, or what we call the most “nutrient rich” foods are leafy green vegetables. These first class foods rank highest in terms of nutrient density, and comprise the top 10 foods on the ANDI scale – The Aggregate Nutrient Density Index – and they are genuinely low calorie foods.

Recently, while reading an article on Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong blog, it occurred to me that there is a widespread belief that all nutrient dense foods are low calorie foods and they are not. This is a trap that many of us (particularly those of us who are promoting this revolutionary new way of eating) fall into, as we appeal to those considering the change to a nutrient rich diet.

All nutrient dense foods are not low calorie, although they are lower in calories by far when comparing them to nutrient barren foods such as ice cream, bread, sugar and chocolate. Nutrient dense foods, like raw or roasted nuts not withstanding, in terms of calories, by the pound they are up there with bread and sugar, because up to 50% of the weight is oil and oil contains more than twice the number of calories per gram compared to carbohydrates and protein. Albeit, this oil is a healthy fat and nuts, unlike milk chocolate and sugar, are not to be avoided. They are to be eaten intelligently.

According to the Live Strong blog:

(Note: plant based oils are extracted fat, and are no longer nutrient rich as they are dense in only 1 nutrient “fat” and that is not healthy)

Just look to your left.

Vegetables are 100 calories per pound, but watch what happens when you start moving onto fruit and grains and beans. You are talking 300-500 calories per pound, so you need to be careful as to how much of these foods you eat, remember they are “nutrient dense”, rich in all the nutrients your body needs, but you can easily overeat nutrient rich foods.

NUTS; a pound of nuts can get into the thousands of calories. 9 almonds are approximately 180-200 calories. How quickly can you eat 9 almonds? Quicker than you can assess how many calorie just ate, that’s how fast!

So what’s the moral of the story?

When we first published Nutrient Rich.com the tag line was Eat Better, Not Less! The idea was simple, the better you eat, the less you need to eat. This is still true today.

When you are eating nutrient dense foods, if you try to eat them in the same quantities that you used to eat nutrient poor foods (which would drive you to over consume anyway) you will be healthier now doubt, but over time (as your body becomes more and more nutrient rich) you can get fat, because you need less and less food. With the exception of leafy green, green and colored vegetables, nutrient dense foods need to be eaten with a sound lifestyle strategy in mind and relative to activity.

I’ll be talking more about losing weight the Nutrient Rich way in future posts, but for now suffice it to say that not all nutrient dense foods are low calorie.

~ JAM

This is the natural weight loss transformation of Tracie Boyle who was able to lose weight naturally by doing it the nutrient rich way, after years of hopping from one nutrient poor diet to another.

We met Tracie at the North Jersey Nutritarian Meet Up at The Lifestyle Coaching Center in Livingston NJ, were we socialize around eating nutrient rich, nutrient dense foods and have a lot of fun. It was there that Tracie shared her story of natural weight loss transformation by eating a nutrient rich diet.

She tells her story below; she shares what inspired her and the book that really started it all for her, and  has even provided her cooking blog where Tracie Cooks Stuff, and you can see what foods she’s eating.

Here’s her story:

Most people don’t know the day their life changed, but I do: May 17, 2008.

Farm Sanctuary, a farm animal protection organization, was having their annual gala and since there was going to be some celebrities in attendance, which we liked, my friends and I decided to go and check them out on the red carpet.

Little did I know that the events of that day would change my life forever.

A little history: Sometime between the ages of 10 and 11, I began to gain weight and continued to gain (and lose) for most of my teenage and adult years. My weight never prevented me from enjoying my high school years; I had great friends, participated in the high school band, plays and other activities but it did prevent me from stepping out of my comfort zone, taking chances and continued to do so even after I graduated.

Throughout my 20′s, I had a good group of friends but there were so many things that I had wanted to do but didn’t because of my weight; it was holding me back from who I could be. Over the years, I had tried a bunch of different diets but none worked long term. Most of my family is overweight, so eventually I figured that it was part of my biology and that there wasn’t anything that could be done about it.

By the time I hit 30, in January 2008, I weighed around 210lbs (I’m 5’7″) and was going through a really rough patch. I needed to do something, but I didn’t know what that ‘something’ was.

Then I went to the gala.

Shortly after arriving, we met up with two other people that were also there for the gala, and spent the afternoon hanging out together. At one point, one of the guys mentioned a book called “Skinny Bitch”. I remember laughing at the name and thinking “Who would name a book that?” but the name stuck with me and mentally filed it away for later.

A few hours later, the gala let out and one of attendees randomly handed me his goodie bag which was a Matt & Nat shopping bag filled with tons of vegan goodies: cookies, a water bottle, VegNews, snacks, shirt, chocolate and lots of other stuff.

We had a great time and wound up meeting some awesome celebrities, but due to some poor planning, found ourselves stuck overnight in New York City until 5am the next morning. I spent the rest of the night, at Port Authority, immersing myself in VegNews and checking out the other items in the bag.

I was inspired.

The next day, I went to the bookstore and bought “Skinny Bitch“. I finished reading it in about a day and it made me want more – more information, more out of life – just more. I don’t jump into anything blind, so I spent the next two weeks doing my own research on veganism, weight loss, general health and nutrition and figured out a plan that I thought would work for me. I made the decision to stop dieting and change my life by changing my lifestyle.

I started to pay attention to what I was putting into my body, ate normal portion sizes, began to choose healthier options (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and other plant based foods) and made a bunch of other little changes that wound up adding up to something bigger. {she transitioned to a nutrient rich diet and improved her lifestyle}

I didn’t go into this expecting to lose weight – I just wanted to be healthy – but one year later, I was down 70 lbs and everything changed. I was truly, genuinely happy for the first time in my life. My weight no longer was holding me back, I was getting out there and trying new things, discovered a love of clothes shopping and had become more conscious of the things going on around me and what I was putting into my body. I never felt like I was giving anything up or depriving myself.

Now, well into my 2nd year, I’ve maintained that weight loss and have continued my quest for knowledge by reading whatever new and old information I can about health, nutrition and overall well-being.

My mission is now to help people to change their lives by changing the way they think about food. I didn’t have a personal trainer or dietitian. I didn’t deprive myself or go on a fad diet. I just learned how to eat. Food is fuel and in order for our bodies to run efficiently, we have to put in the best ‘fuel’ that we possibly can. If we put crappy foods with empty calories into our bodies, how can we expect for it to run efficiently? You’re going to feel sluggish and depressed. But if you put good foods, full of nutrients into it, you’re going to feel energized and happy.

I often wonder where I’d be now if I hadn’t gone to that gala or been told about Skinny Bitch or the random stranger hadn’t given me bag or I hadn’t been stuck in NYC overnight but I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and those events set me on my current path and I couldn’t be happier. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds and continuing on this path, one step at a time.