Herbs and Spices for Antioxidants

The herb is no Herb.  Canadian Bobsleigh had a term for someone that didn't quite have the athleticism to make the sport, Herb.   Definition: slow, weak, soft.  Lets take a look at some real herbs.

I was reading through a few articles and one referenced this article in the Nutrition Journal.  The article deals with measuring antioxidants in various food groups.  Spices and Herbs come out extremely high.  I will list a link to all the foods/values at the end.

The study was done by The Norwegian Crop Research Institute that found that herbs have higher antioxidant values then plants.  Clove, rosemary, peppermint and turmeric among others, were found to be significant in value.

The take away from the reading is to learn to incorporate spices and herbs in foods you eat to boost your antioxidant uptake.  I know I have fallen into greens and berries thinking when it comes to antioxidants.  It was a nice reminder that herbs and spices have long played a role in ancient medicine and cooking and should still be used.  Ingesting the herbs, won't help you from being a Herb, (ingest deadlifts/sprints) but they may help lower inflammation, improve digestion and spice up that 3rd chicken breast you're ingesting for the day.

This is the link to the 3100 listed foods with their antioxidants measure.  3100 LIST.