A healthy diet doesn't have to taste bland. Many common herbs used to spice up a meal are loaded with antioxidants.
These chemicals shield cells from the effects of free radicals, which are corrosive molecules produced during normal metabolic processes that have been implicated in the development of many aging-related diseases.
In an effort to identify potential new sources of natural antioxidants, researchers measured and compared the antioxidant properties of numerous medicinal and culinary herbs. All of the herbs were grown under the same conditions at the US National Arboretum in Washington, DC.
Oregano lovers will be happy to know that three different types of oregano -- Mexican, Italian and Greek -- scored the highest in antioxidant activity. Other antioxidant-packed herbs included rose geranium, sweet bay, purple amaranth, dill, winter savory and Vietnamese coriander.
Not only were the antioxidant properties in some of the herbs in the study higher than reported values for vitamin E, they even beat out well-known antioxidant-rich foods such as vegetables, berries and other fruits.
This study revealed that herbs are an effective potential source of natural antioxidants. Therefore, supplementing a balanced diet with herbs may have beneficial health effects.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2002;49:5165-5170
Two of the most popular Italian herbs, garlic and oregano, are two of the most useful nutritional herbs. Garlic is a powerful anti parasite treatment and oregano is a potent antioxidant.
Wise use of whole herbs can greatly reduce your need for expensive supplements.
If you are not using these two useful herbs I strongly encourage you to consider using them. Remember that most of the major anti-infection benefits of garlic are lost unless you use it raw.
You can use 1-2 cloves in your vegetable juice to obtain maximum benefit. The chlorophyll in the juice also tends to cut down on the potentially offensive garlic odor. Please remember that garlic pills are far more expensive and nowhere near as effective as fresh garlic.
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