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Pep Up Your Health with Peppers
This Week's Tips
Love sweet red, green, and yellow bell peppers? Know which are most healthful?
The red and yellow ones -- they have almost twice as much vitamin C as their green siblings. And getting an ample supply of C is credited with reducing the risk of stroke, one of the most common causes of death and disability in Americans.
Researchers have found that people with the lowest amounts of vitamin C in their diets have a 30 percent greater risk of having a stroke compared to those with the largest intake of C. So when you're grocery shopping, pick up a few extra bell peppers. Midsummer is prime season for them -- they're sweet, cheap, and abundant. Still, you can eat only so many peppers. For variety, reach for other high-C foods: papaya, strawberries, cantaloupe, citrus fruit, and broccoli are all-stars when it comes to this potent vitamin.
RealAge Benefit:
Getting 1,200 milligrams of vitamin C per day from food and supplements can make your RealAge as much as 1 year younger.
Dietary antioxidants and the risk of ischemic stroke: the Rotterdam Study. Voko, Z., Hollander, M., Hofman, A., Koudstaal, P. J., Breteler, M. M., Neurology 2003 Nov 11;61(9):1273-1275.
