How can you recover better from your exercise workout? Want more muscle and less fat in the long term? Antioxidants are the answer! And not only are they the answer to fighting the aging process, but they are extremely beneficial to your body for a whole host of reasons. What are these benefits? Well, first, they are going to take on those free radicals and that in itself will help to reverse the aging process so you will look younger and fitter. Secondly, they are a great aid to help you stave all those nasty degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease and all the other diseases that come on because your body is slowing down. How do these antioxidants work when you are tired after a heavy workout? During exercise, the body produces a lot of free radicals and these are not such a great asset for your body as they tend to damage muscle tissue. So, what you need is to stock up with antioxidants before you start your workout. An hour beforehand is ideal. In that way, you are providing your body with the necessary defences against these nasty free radicals and thereby helping your body to reduce the damage done to the muscles by the free radicals. Which foods provide the best source of food antioxidants? There is no need to take expensive supplements because lots of fruits and teas are rich in these substances. Berries are just great - all types, for example raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, cherries and acai fruit . Then there are the teas - oolong tea is one of my favourites but you should also consider white tea, black tea and red tea. Red tea is also known as rooibos. Then there are all the nuts, seeds, beans, grapes, red wine, cinnamon and of course dark chocolate or cocoa.
Would you like to try a snack chock full of antioxidant rich foods before you start your workout? This is one of my favourites. I toast some wholemeal bread, spread it with almond butter and then add some jam- blueberry is fine but you can choose others that you might prefer. Top it up with some sliced strawberries or fresh blueberries. Drink some tea , iced green tea is fine. You can sweeten it with a small amount of honey. All these ingredients are just full of antioxidants which are not only going to protect your muscles but keep you younger and fitter than ever before. You can be as creative as you like and vary the snack to suit your tastes. It is worth bearing in mind that we are under a daily barrage of free radicals which come from air pollution, smoke, workouts, junk food, exposure to the sun, not to mention chemicals and other nasty things in the environment. These all produce oxidative stress and that is why we need the antioxidants to counter their effects. So make sure that every meal or snack you have has one or more antioxidant source in it. That will give you some protection and prevent damage too.
So, if you want to have a muscular fit body and want to live for ever, make sure you are getting your supply of antioxidants. This will also help you stave off or even prevent the degenerative diseases to which everyone is prone. But there are lots of other elements in the diet puzzle - antioxidants are just one. You can discover many more of them by clicking on the link below.
. Robert Locke is a fitness writer in Health. Visit to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as 4 secret hard-body workout routines - both FREE. Click on the Truth About Abs.