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
nine 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 three 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, blue (blueberries) and yellow.
Eating
lots of anti-oxidants keeps your lungs strong! People who ate the most
antioxidants were able to exhale almost 1/2-cup more air in one 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!
Reminder:
Lung cancer is the number-one cancer killer - and that 18-percent of victims
never smoked.
Do
try to eat your nine servings of a rainbow variety of fruits, seeds, nuts and
vegetables. Then take a professional quality multi-vitamin/mineral daily. As iron is a pro-oxidant, it should not be included usually
except in the anemic, children formulas and for menstruating or pregnant
females.