Recognising antioxidant-rich foods is a habit that will make your diet much healthier, and it is a very easy one to have. Antioxidants like Vitamin C, vitamin E vitamin A and beta-carotene are nutrients that are excellent to help get a stronger immune system, by preventing 'free radicals' from damaging our cells.

What do a red kidney bean, a cranberry and a red pepper all have in common? A reddish colour. This colour is the result of their richness in antioxidants. Virtually all foods which have a reddish or related colour, including purple, orange, pink or other variants of this colour range are foods with antioxidants. The darker the colour is, the more antioxidants they contain. So, since it is a matter of colouring, spotting foods with antioxidants is a very easy thing to do.

As you can imagine, the list of such foods is very, very long: carrots, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, squash, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelon, eggplant, figs, berries, grapefruit, orange, red pepper, papaya, strawberries, pumpkin, prunes, raisins, blackberries, plums, red grapes, raspberries, pomegranate and cherries. Fruits and vegetables are not the only foods with antioxidants: red kidney beans, red wine, chili and paprika are just a few examples of other kinds of food good for you, in the categories of spices, seeds and drinks.

As with all rules however, there are exceptions. While the colour is a convenient way to visibly spot foods high in antioxidants, some foods of a different colour range can carry antioxidants as well. Some examples include artichokes, garlic, coriander, asparagus or cinnamon. Here you need to know about them, but if you already go for the ones with a red-related colour, it will suffice to revolutionise your diet.

The less you cook foods high in antioxidants, the more you preserve the antioxidants in them. And the more you eat, the better. Since antioxidant-rich foods are very varied, from spices to fruits, you can have a complete meal - starters, main dish and dessert - full of antioxidants, and you can create a different antioxidant-rich meal every day. Making the healthiest of diet is the easiest thing to do.