Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances which reduce the amount of free radicals produced inside a human body. Free radicals are active atoms or groups of atoms damaging the cells’ structure what may accelerate the process of tumour’s development and increase the risk of heart diseases.
 

Vitamin A (retinol)

Vitamin A (retinol) belongs to the group of grease-soluble vitamins and appears in products of animal origin: fish, meat and milk. Plants and mushrooms contain carotenoids which are derivatives of the vitamin A and which in human and animal bodies are metabolically turned into vitamin A and stored mainly inside a liver. The group of carotenoids conists of carotenes (alpha- and beta-carotene which is the basic dye of carrots) and likopens (the main dye of tomatoes). Xantophils are also a kind of carotenoids including: the dye of maize – zeaxantine, lutein – the dye of leaves and the yolk of eggs and capsantine – found mainly in peppers. In their natural state carotenoids appear in the cells of plants and animals, in the solutions and suspensions of grease or in the combinations with water-soluble proteins. What has to be stressed is the fact that not only carotenes (derivatives of vitamin A) have antioxidant qualities but also other carotenoids like lutein, likopen or zeaxantine have antioxidant forces which can be even stronger than those of beta-carotene. The basic source of carotenoids are vegetables and fruit with yellow or red dyes or dark green leaved vegatables.
 

The richest natural sources of carotenoids are:

carrots containing 9000 ug of beta-carotene per 100 g,

kale (5350 ug/100 g),

spinach (4200 ug/100 g),

peppers (3150 ug/100 g),

apricots (1500 ug/100 g).

Vitamin C

The natural source of the vitamin C are products of plant origin. It not only reduces the level of vulnerability to bacterial and viral infections but also as a strong antioxidant it protects us from the agressive free radicals which may often result in a tumour. From the chemical perspective the vitamin C is known as an ascorbic (KA) and a dehydroascorbic acid (KDA) and it is included in a group of exogenous vitamins which are not produced by a human body. Apart from its numerous biological functions it is also one of the most effecive water-soluble antioxidants (excluding some polyphenols). What is more the vitamin C is the most susectible to the oxidation, high temperatures, neutral and slightly alkaline environment which is typical for the majority of food of the animal origin. On the other hand it is not influenced by acidic conditions typical for fruit and some kinds of vegetables which are the main source of the vitamin C.
 

It can be found in all vegetables and fruit but the richest sources of it are:

fruits of a briar which contain over 1000 mg of the C vitamin,

black currants (200 mg),

peppers (140 mg),

broccoli (100 mg),

citrus fruit (40-50 mg).

Fibre  

Fibre is a substance which can not be digested by a human body. It is a non-starchy, multimolecular carbohydrate of a plant origin like: cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin and lignin. They influence the work of the intestines in a beneficial way preventing the neoplastic diseases of a large intestine and an anus. Thanks to its ability to bulge it creates the feeling of satiety, reduces the level of cholestelor and remove from the body the heavy metals like: lead and cadmium. The biggest amounts of fibre can be found in cereal products (from several up to a dozen or so g/100g) and all fruit and vegetables, mainly in dried ones (prunes, dates and figs – about 10g/100g). Fibre is also included in not-clarified, mousse-like fruit and vegetable juices. The advisable dose of fibre per day is 30g.
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 source: zyjzdrowo.med.pl