A brief breakdown on the Orac Value - Antioxidant Analysis

Foods that score high in an antioxidant analysis called ORAC may 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

ORAC, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, is a test tube analysis that measures the total antioxidant power of foods and other chemical substances.

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

Orac Value per 100 Grams