NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

March 25, 1999

[EDITORS: Please include byline when using this article.]

The Antioxidant Vegetable Garden

by Ron C. Smith

Extension Horticulturist and Turfgrass Specialist, North Dakota State University

Oxygen serves a very important function in our bodies because it helps convert digested food into energy. But this conversion, known as oxygen metabolism, can also produce free radicals, which are unstable molecules that damage healthy cells as they move through the body. For combating these free radicals, I'd like to suggest a homegrown remedygrowing a vegetable garden.

Here's why: As soon as they are produced, free radicals begin searching for positively charged molecules with which they can react, or oxidize. It is through this oxidation process that free radicals can damage a body's cells.

Enter antioxidantspositively charged molecules that combine with the negatively charged free radicals and render them harmless. The major antioxidants can easily be found in many vegetable gardens this summer, in the forms of vitamins C and E, along with beta carotene that the body converts to vitamin A.

Nothing beats your garden for freshness and purity of fruits and vegetables. "Victory Gardens" helped Americans stay healthy through the long years of World War II, and it appears that we are rediscovering the plant world to bring us good health and longevity as we move into the new century.

What are the fruits and vegetables that can be grown in our back yards that are rich sources of these antioxidants? Keep the following in mind when making selections from the packet seed display in your local market or the seedlings at a nursery:

• Vitamin C: cantaloupe and honeydew melons; strawberries; peppers; and broccoli (a cruciferous vegetable)
• Vitamin E: sunflower seeds and broccoli
• Vitamin A (beta carotene): orange and yellow fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe, squash and carrots; broccoli; sweet potatoes; and leafy greens such as romaine lettuce and turnip greens

Remember that in most instances the full nutritional value of these and other vegetable and fruit crops is realized when picked at maturity and eaten fresh shortly thereafter. Quality and quantity of nutritional value can be lost through improper storage or preparation.

###

Source: Ron Smith (701) 231-8161

Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136

Click here for a pdf version of this graphic.