The Relationship Between Foods High in Antioxidants and Health

The ORAC score, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, is a test tube analysis that measures the total antioxidant power of foods and other chemical substances. Antioxidants vacuum up free radicals, the cell-damaging chemicals resulting from oxidation.

Certain foods, chemicals and even air can trigger oxidative stress. This type of cell damage is a major culprit in many chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and neurological conditions like Parkinson’s.

Free radicals are thought to be such bad factors because they are highly unstable, and wreak havoc on tissue in their quest to find a more stable state. Because antioxidants remove free radicals from circulation, they are protective against at least some of the chronic diseases that plague Americans.

The CDC (National Centers for Disease Control) estimate that 5 out of every 6 deaths in the US result from chronic disease, so the tiny free radical is a big problem.

It's all about dietary choice when it come to boosting antioxidants. Unprocessed whole fruits, vegetables and other plants are the primary source food high in antioxidants, though some fat-soluble nutritents found in fish and nuts are also rich. Herbs like cilantro and spices like ginger, cinnamon and cumin have very high ORAC scores. Oh yes, and chocolate is an ORAC superstar.

Curious? Here are a few foods and their ORAC scores.

Top-Scoring Foods High in Antioxidants
ORAC units per 100 grams (about 3 ½ ounces)


Many fruits and vegetables are known to be good sources of antioxidant vitamins, such as E, C, and beta carotene, a form of vitamin A. But these natural foods also contain other compounds, collectively known as phytonutrients, that may contribute to health.

Foods that score high ORAC score may also protect cells and their components from oxidative damage, according to studies of animals and human blood at the Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts in Boston. ARS is the chief scientific agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Early findings suggest that eating plenty of high-ORAC fruits and vegetables--such as spinach and blueberries--may help slow the processes associated with aging in both body and brain.
"If these findings are borne out in further research, young and middle-aged people may be able to reduce risk of diseases of aging--including senility--simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets," said ARS Administrator Floyd P. Horn.

In the studies, eating plenty of high-ORAC foods:

• Raised the antioxidant power of human blood 10 to 25 percent


• Prevented some loss of long-term memory and learning ability in middle-aged rats


• Maintained the ability of brain cells in middle-aged rats to respond to a chemical stimulus--a function that normally decreases with age


• Protected rats' tiny blood vessels--capillaries--against oxygen damage

Nutritionist Ronald L. Prior contends, "If we can show some relationship between ORAC intake and health outcome in people, I think we may reach a point where the ORAC value will become a new standard for good antioxidant protection." (See table at end for ORAC values of fruits and vegetables.)

It can be difficult to get all these foods high in ORAC value into our diets. There are excellent vitamin and mineral supplements that can assist with this.