See two causes of every disease

Summary: In order to understand what and why antioxidants are important first we must understand what oxidants are. Go to oxidant page to better understand oxidants. In simplicity oxidants are electrons that attach to our cells and cause corrosion similar to rust on steel. It is the same as the oxidation that happens to the paint on our automobiles when they fade and loose their luster. Or like the corrosion that occurs in car battery cables allowing the acids to eat away the cable and corrode the battery post to stop electrical flow. Oxidants do the same to our cells. Oxidation cause health problems such as dementia, aging, lung problems and many more. Anti oxidants are items that remove oxidants and are in the chemistry world called reducers or redux hence antioxidants and are not just important but life saving.

Medicine Plus: "Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food, or by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Antioxidant substances include: Beta-carotene, Lutein, Lycopene, Selenium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E.  Antioxidants are found in many foods. These include fruits and vegetables, nuts, grains, and some meats, poultry and fish." (1)

American Heart Association: "What are antioxidant vitamins? Much research has recently focused on how antioxidant vitamins may reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Antioxidant vitamins — E, C and beta carotene (a form of vitamin A) — have potential health-promoting properties. Though the data are incomplete, up to 30 percent of Americans are taking some form of antioxidant supplement...The American Heart Association doesn't recommend using antioxidant vitamin supplements until more complete data are available. We continue to recommend that people eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods daily from all the basic food groups. Eating a variety of foods low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol will provide a natural source of these vitamins, minerals and fiber." (2)

Pub Med: Nutr Metab (Lond). 2007; 4: 8. "Thus, the beneficial effects of curcumin on the metabolic abnormalities postulated to be important in the development of diabetic retinopathy suggest that curcumin could have potential benefits in inhibiting the development of retinopathy in diabetic patients." (3) Curcumin as an antioxidant may prevent blindness in diabetics.

USDA Food Rich in Antioxidants Offer Important Protection By Gerald F. Combs, Jr."Not many people think of oxygen as being toxic, but it's true. Of course, we need oxygen to stay alive--that's why we breathe. And we need more of it when we are doing physical work or strenuous exercise. That's why we breathe harder and faster--to get more oxygen to enable our cells to produce more energy. But it turns out that some of the oxygen that we inhale is--through our own metabolism--turned into highly reactive forms that can interfere with essential functions within cells. "Research has shown that these reactive forms of oxygen are also necessary for certain essential functions. We use reactive oxygen to kill bacteria and to signal functional changes within blood vessels. But when produced in excess, reactive oxygen can also damage proteins, fats and DNA inside of cells. In this way, adverse effects of oxygen have been linked with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and also with aging, arthritis, cataracts, diabetes and impaired immune function. Because these reactions involve oxygen, they are called "oxidations". On the other hand, there are also ways to protect cells against such oxidative damage by blocking these oxidation reactions. Factors that do this are called "anti-oxidants". Because blocking oxidative damage may lead to reduced risks of chronic disease, there is enormous interest in the health roles of antioxidants." (4)

A recent query on the USDA web site showed 4,530 reports about antioxidants. Many web sites are quoting a USDA report showing 20 top antioxidant foods see study 1 below.  I could not find a reference to the report on any of the sites I visited so I searched the FDA site and could not find the article. I did find two other articles that have similar study's and observed that each of the three studies are different. The numbers for each do not correlate because the quantity of food for each study is different thus will effect the numbers. I put them here for comparison and information with the sources that I found for each. Although there is some controversy as to what foods are the best, it shows foods that have high levels of antioxidants.