How many antioxidants should we be getting per day?

[Firefly77]

I know that antioxidants are important for overall health, because they help to eliminate free radicals and other bad things from your body, but how much should we be getting on a daily basis and if I can't obtain what I need though food sources, are the supplements just as good, or are they not as good as eating the fruit itself, for example? Does anyone know?

[KraftMan]

That's a really good question! I have no idea. You just sort of hear about it as though the more you get the better. I hope someone has the answer

[2strikes]

super good question. How are antioxidants even measured?

[JennyR]

There are all different types of antioxidants, three well known ones that you like obtain in your daily diet through various foods include vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium. Knowing this, the amount you should be getting of each is whatever the recommended amount of these nutrients are that you should be ingesting per day based on your gender, age, etc. I think they are just as effective in the supplement form, but if you are going to take supplements you need to make sure that you are paying attention to how much vitamin C (for example) that you are taking in. Just as it is important to have a sufficient amount of antioxidants in your diet daily, taking in too much is also not good for you.

[ChristySmiles]

That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing JennyR!

[MadMike]

There are all different types of antioxidants, three well known ones that you like obtain in your daily diet through various foods include vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium. Knowing this, the amount you should be getting of each is whatever the recommended amount of these nutrients are that you should be ingesting per day based on your gender, age, etc. I think they are just as effective in the supplement form, but if you are going to take supplements you need to make sure that you are paying attention to how much vitamin C (for example) that you are taking in. Just as it is important to have a sufficient amount of antioxidants in your diet daily, taking in too much is also not good for you.

THANK you! That's really useful information. Shouldn't we be learning that in school or something? I don't remember even touching on this

[Firefly77]

Yes, thank you for your response JennyR, I didn't think of antioxidants in terms of vitamins. That makes it a lot easier to figure out how much I should be getting