Imagine a sliced apple, say the health experts at Canyon Ranch. Leave those slices sitting for a bit and before long, they'll turn brown. Oxidation is the cause. And harmful free radicals are the result. Free radicals pull apart molecules in healthy living tissue and eventually cause the apple to dry and shrivel. They can cause human skin to wrinkle and can cause cancer too.

Now don't forgo apples in your diet -- just don't slice and let them brown. But do let the visual of those brown pieces motivate you to choose a rainbow of colorful, antioxidant-rich plant foods to enrich your diet each day. Here's what you need.

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Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Vitamin C is vital for the normal growth and development of the human body. It repairs tissues, helps wounds heal, and forms blood vessels and collagen -- an important protein used to make skin, scar tissue, and tendons. Vitamin C is good for cartilage, bones, teeth, and it's a rich and powerful antioxidant, instrumental in blocking the damage caused by free radicals. Pretty super, eh? Yep, but we only benefit from the power of vitamin C by ingesting it.

Our bodies don't manufacture or store vitamin C, so we must consume plenty of vitamin-C rich foods in our daily diets. Miss out on this potent property and your deficiency may lead to dry and splitting hair, rough and scaly skin, nosebleeds, anemia, weight gain due to slowed metabolism, and even scurvy. Get enough and you'll protect yourself from life-threatening illnesses like heart disease and cancer.

Although all fruits and vegetables contain some amount of vitamin C, oranges offer the most readily available supply of it. The orange, a Superfood with about 60 calories, is also famed for its 170 cancer-fighting phytochemicals and 60 flavonoids, as well as its ability to reduce inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and asthma. A daily orange will also help combat diabetes and obesity, and its flavonoid hesperetin and the compound herperidin lower blood pressure and cholesterol. There's more: An orange's peel contains limonene, which may ward off skin cancer.


Healthy Orange Chicken

Curried Zucchini and Orange Soup

For more lowdown on the orange, see what Sunkist has to say about this super citrus fruit.

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So I imagine you've heard why antioxidants are such a big deal? The molecule, which is found in fruits and veggies, is thought to help prevent cancer -- and lower your risk of heart disease and slow down aging -- by stopping free radicals from damaging healthy cells. To find out a bit more about the process ,as well as some foods highest in antioxidants, take a look at Martha Edwards' Daily Fit Tip post on adding items that contain the molecule into your diet.

If you've already begun to eat these healthy fruits and vegetables but are looking for new ways to prepare them, try out one of the three salad recipes listed here. The Power Packed Pomegranate Salad contains spinach and seeds of the tropical fruit, both of which have loads of antioxidants, while the blueberries in Blueberry Chicken Salad and the black beans in the Black Bean and tomato salad pack a healthy antioxidant punch.

Have you got any antioxidant-loaded recipe favorites to share?

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