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Natural sources of antioxidants, such as Vitamins C and E and
beta-carotene, are some of your best defenses against coronary-pulmonary
aging. Choose from these foods when eating at least five servings per
day of fruits and vegetables, better yet 9 servings:
Vitamin C: red pepper, Brussels sprouts, papaya, orange, chestnuts,
butternut squash, kiwi, strawberries, cantaloupe, kale, pink grapefruit,
sweet potato, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. {The latter 3 also
help the liver detoxify poisons and "bad" estrogens (16-hydroxyestrone)
that promote breast, colon, cervical and prostate cancer.}
Vitamin E: almonds, spinach, parsnips, peanut butter, sunflower seeds,
asparagus, sweet potato, wheat germ, Brussels sprouts, peanuts, pecans.
Beta carotene: carrot, butternut squash, cantaloupe, sweet potato, kale,
watercress, apricot, red pepper, turnip greens, mango.
A good rule of thumb: eat from the fruit and vegetable "color palette"
each day and include red, green, orange, and yellow.
By the way, eating lots of anti-oxidants keeps your lungs strong. The
proof? According to a 3/14/98 article in the FASEB Journal, people who
ate the most antioxidants were able to exhale almost 1/2 cup more air in
1 second than people who ate much less. The ability to inhale and exhale
volumes of air is called "Vital Capacity" and is perhaps the best
physical exam indicator of life expectancy!
And need I remind you that lung cancer is the #1 cancer killer? And 18%
of victims never smoked!
So eat your 9 servings of a rainbow variety of fruits, seeds, nuts and
vegetables. Then take a professional quality multi- vitamin/mineral w/o
Iron with at least 500mg Vit C, 100 IU Vit E, and 15,000 units of mixed
carotinoids (not just beta-carotene), and 200mcg of selenium. As iron is
a pro-oxidant, it should not be included usually except in the anemic,
children's formulas and for menstruating or pregnant females.
Pregnant females and those desiring or even "at risk" for pregnancy
should limit Vit A supplementation to less than 5,000 units a day.
GREEN Super Food instant juice mix powders, a concentrate of juiced and
low temperature spray dried fruits, vegetables and greens,
should be considered by those of you who do not eat at the very least 5
servings of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables a day.
To measure you antioxidant status RxforWellness.com supplies a simple at
home morning urine Antioxidant Test Kit. Measuring your free radical
levels this way is the first step in any serious anti-aging program. And
the older you get, the more antioxidant protection you need. Keeping
increasing your antioxidant intake until your test comes out in the
optimal range!
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