When we get older we still want to find ourselves healthy, mentally sharp, and energetic. What we now know is how you live your life today impacts how fit and well you will be tomorrow.
“Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.” – Fred Astaire
Our aging enemy is free radicals. A free radical is an atom or molecule that has unpaired electron which attacks healthy cells trying to steal electrons and rebalance, causing damage to good cells. Free radicals attack cells and cause damage in the body. Scientists believe free radicals are responsible for numerous age-related diseases.
How do we combat free radicals? Scientists have found foods that score high in antioxidant analysis or ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) protect cells from free radicals reducing risks of aging diseases.
So, what should we eat? Below I have outlined many foods and their ORAC score. The number after the food name is the number of ORAC’s that 100 grams of each food provides. A high-ORAC diet will provide 3,000 — 5,000 units a day.
| Goji Berries Dark Chocolate Black Raspberries Milk Chocolate Prunes Pomegranates Raisins Blueberries Red Raspberries Blackberries Garlic Kale Cranberries Strawberries Spinach Raspberries Yellow Squash Brussels Sprouts Plums Alfalfa Sprouts Beets Avocado Oranges |
25,300 13,120 7,700 6,740 5,770 3,307 2,830 2,400 2,400 2,036 1,939 1,770 1,750 1,540 1,260 1,220 1,150 980 949 930 840 782 750 |
Red Grapes Red Bell Pepper Cherries Kiwi Baked Beans White Grapefruit Kidney Beans Onions White Grapes Corn Frozen Peas Eggplant Cauliflower Potato Sweet Potato Cabbage Apples Banana Carrot Tomato Pear Watermelon Cucumber |
739 710 670 602 503 460 460 450 446 400 395 390 385 300 295 295 218 210 210 195 134 100 60 |
A large handful of blueberries would give you an ORAC score around 6000. So just by identifying and eating a few of these highly antioxidant foods you could be looking at a retirement that is as active as you want it to be.
