Relax, relax. Isn’t that what we are meant to be trying to do in this hectic world we live in? I was doing exactly that a few weekends ago at the NZ Food Writers conference. After a hard morning of visiting food and wine producers, and having to choose between blue cheese wontons with pear and rocket salad or grilled mackerel on toast with harissa at Clearview Estate Winery, we were now at Millar Road – seriously stylish accommodation – tasting yet more wine and food. Oh well, someone has to do it!

Relaxing by the pool in the afternoon sun, lapping up the Hawkes Bay countryside and Pacific Ocean spread out below us, I summoned up just enough energy to ask antioxidant expert, Dr Carolyn Lister, “Do organic vegetables have any more antioxidants than others?” She replied, “It depends how stressed they are. The more stress, the more antioxidants.”

Organic vegetables can be more stressed because they have to fight off pests without any chemical help. But most plants in New Zealand, organic or not, are pretty stressed by our harsh sunlight. It stimulates the plant to make more antioxidants as a type of sunscreen. Many native New Zealand plants such as puha, a spinach-like vegetable, have very high antioxidant levels probably for exactly this reason. (click on the picture of puha above to go to Curious Kai website : Puha and Pork Bones recipe – traditional NZ maori food)

Antioxidants help combat the cell damaging effect of too much oxidation in our body. Oxidation is a natural, necessary process but, as with most things, too much is not so great. That’s where plants come in: eat lots of fruit, legumes, nuts, whole-grains and vegetables and you have an ingeniously designed balance between oxidation and anti-oxidation. (I hope that’s a real word – well you get what I mean!)

The key word in that last statement is lots. When you next hear that a certain food is rich in antioxidants, ask yourself how much of it you eat? Puha and blueberries are rich in antioxidants but for many of us, potatoes may provide us with more antioxidants simply because we eat more of them. So pile up your plate with vegetabIes (at least two cups a day) and if, like me, your lack of gardening skills results in stressed out plants, relax – the ones that survive will have more antioxidants than those grown by your green-fingered friends!

Traditional Māori Food Plants High in Cancer-Fighting Anti-Oxidants

How antioxidants work