Antioxidants and Their ORAC Value - What it Means To You

Posted on March 16, 2008

» Filed Under Nutrition |



Today’s consumer is exposed to the term “antioxidants” now more than ever. Consumers hear outlets like ABC News and CNN tout blueberries as an excellent antioxidant source and see many high profile products publicize their antioxidant capacity. Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation and confusion has been created. Consumers certainly recognize antioxidants as being “good” for them, but their understanding of exactly why is often misunderstood.

Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food, or by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

There are many products that are now being marketed as antioxidants, and, their biggest claim is often that their particular ingredient or product has the highest “ORAC values.”

ORAC is an acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. The ORAC value of a product or compound is a number that is supposed to represent its potency or its potential to react with an oxygen free radical.

It is suggested that product A is better than product B because the ORAC value of an ingredient is higher, creating a competition for the product with the highest ORAC value

What than does the ORAC value tell us?
The ORAC assays are performed in test tubes, and therefore do not determine the bio-availability within the body. The high ORAC value indicates that the tested sample possesses a high potency of antioxidant activity chemically not necessarily biologically.

ORAC has a great value in that it brought an analytical and reliable method to this whole concept of antioxidants, However, there has been a great deal of misunderstanding because an ORAC value does not in any way indicate the metabolic or biological value of antioxidants once they are consumed.

To be sure that you win the fight against free radicals take a daily supplement with a variety of antioxidant nutrients to protect you from the many different types of free radicals that our body encounters on a daily basis.

Below is a guide of antioxidants for your review:

1) Alpha Lipoic Acid: Best Bet Food Sources-Meat

2) Beta-carotene: Best Bet Food Sources– Dark Green and orange-yellow

vegetables: Some beta-carotenes include cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene,

zeaxanthin, lutein, and lycopene.

3) Bilberry: Best Bet Food Sources– The bilberry fruits

4) Co-Q 10: Best Bet Food Sources– Fish (esp. mackerel, salmon and

Sardines, beef, peanuts and spinach.

5) Cucurmin: Best Bet Food Sources-Turmeric

6) Cysteine: Best Bet Food Sources– Eggs, meat, dairy and some cereals

7) Ginkgo Biloba: Best Bet Food Sources: The Ginkgo leaves

8) Glutathione: Best Bet Food Sources– There are none. This is a protein

9) Green Tea: Best Bet Food Sources–The green tea leaves themselves

10) Melatonin: Best Bet Food Sources– There are none. Melatonin is a

substance produced by the pineal gland.

11) Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (Pychnogenol): Fifty times more potent

than Vitamin E and twenty times more potent than Vitamin C. Best Food

Sources– Pine bark and Grape Seeds

12 Selenium (Se): Best Bet Food Sources– Parsley, blackstrap molasses,

mushrooms,nuts, salmon and other seafood, sesame seeds, vegetables,

wheat

13) Superoxide Dismutase (SOD): Best Bet Food Sources: barley

, broccoli, wheat grass, cabbage, Brussels sprouts.

14) Vitamin A: Best Bet Food Sources– Parsley, sweet potatoes

watermelon, nettle leaf, broccoli, carrots, dark leafy greens, eggs, and mangos.

15) Vitamin C: Best Bet Food Sources– Broccoli, strawberries, citrus fruits,

rose hips, fresh fruits and vegetables of all kinds, parsley, and nettles.

16) Vitamin E: Best Bet Food Sources– Wheat germ (oil or fresh), eggs,

nuts, leafy green vegetables, soy products, vegetable oils, and berries (

17) Zinc (Zn): –. Best Bet Food Sources: Raw, hulled pumpkin seeds and

other nuts, oatmeal, eggs, parsley, wheat germ

I have a degree in Health Science with Graduate course work in Nutritional Education. Even though I never pursued a teaching career my passion has always been in the health and wellness industry.

lfranchi@yahoo.com

http://www.multivitamininformation.com

Article Author :Lawrence_Franchi


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