Antioxidants are not actually substances in and of themselves as the marketers might have you believe. Rather, the term antioxidant refers to a substance’s ability to remove damaging oxidizing agents in the body, which explains how so many different natural substances have been described as antioxidants.
What’s most important in anti-aging nutrition is that antioxidants found in healthy food sources fight off the damage caused by free radicals, which helps protect your organs and tissues from long-term problems caused by metabolism and unhealthy foods as you age.
While you can certainly still get your antioxidant fix from certain supplements and vitamins like vitamin E and vitamin C, the best sources of all your nutritional needs are still whole foods. Try incorporating beans like black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans, into a few meals a week.