Can consuming antioxidants reduce inflammation? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Chronic inflammation is at the root of many diseases and conditions, and you may be able to modify it with your diet. Ashley Greenwald, a dietician at Johns Hopkins, says one helpful component of a healthier diet are antioxidants.

Greenwald: Antioxidants are part of that anti-inflammatory diet. Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells. Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, lycopene, these are all examples of different types of antioxidants. Each antioxidant plays a different role in disease prevention. For example there’s a lot of research out there on lycopene and prostate cancer. So making sure we’re getting enough tomatoes, or watermelon. Most of these are found in plant-based foods so we still want to eat a variety to get the benefits of each of these antioxidants.  :32

Greenwald notes that making your plate as colorful as possible with a variety of vegetables is one strategy that appeals to the eye as well as the palate. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.