Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/376498
Page 38 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysMag.com 1992). When carotenoids, the pigments in hundreds of fruits and vegetables, work together with vitamin E, they're three to four times more powerful as antioxidants together than alone. Best dietary sources of carotenoids include green leafy vegetables, carrots, apricots, corn, mangoes, squash, apples, oranges, legumes, grains, and seeds. Lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes that makes them red, may lower the risk of prostate cancer. Minerals such as selenium, zinc, copper, and manganese act as co-factors for certain antioxidant enzymes. Quench Time "Every antioxidant acts a little bit differently and so it will quench a different kind of free radical and it will distribute and absorb differently in the body," says Dr. Labriola. "The key is you want to be getting some of everything, Vitamin A, B-6, C and E. You don't need 8000 percent of everything but you want to get at least 100 to 200 percent of the daily recommended value of everything in supplementation. Add good food to that and then you're hopefully up where you need to be." "Vitamin C studies are ongoing as are all nutrients because of the popularity of nutritional medicine, especially with cancer," adds Dr. Labriola. "In statistical studies, most antioxidants that have been tested have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, especially a first occurrence. Populations that consume larger amounts of antioxidants measured in studies tend to have much lower rates of many kinds of cancer. We know that for a fact. There's very little debate about that." Among the most widely publicized research trials on antioxidants is a five-year study released in 1998 by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Almost 30,000 residents of north central China were given either a placebo or a dietary supplement containing one of seven vitamin-mineral combinations. Persons who received a daily dose of beta-carotene, vitamin E and selenium had a reduced cancer rate of 13 percent. In an intervention trial in Sweden, researchers gave people different combinations of Vitamin C, E, and beta- carotene, looking for the effects on the development of esophageal cancers. "They found that individuals taking these antioxidants decreased their risk for developing esophageal cancer by half," says Williams (Inter J Cancer, 87(5): 750-754, 2000). Numerous population studies have repeatedly demonstrated that a high intake of carotene-rich fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, and stroke (National Research Council, Diet and Health: Implications for Reducing Chronic Disease Risk, National Academy Press). Beta-carotene has been described by scientists as one of the most active of the over 600 carotenoids because of its ability to be converted into vitamin A. However, people who smoke should probably talk to their health practitioner before taking beta-carotene.