Antioxidant Foods and ORAC Values
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Antioxidant Foods and ORAC Values
In our post on the best antioxidant foods, we took a brief look at ORAC units and which foods have the highest ORAC values. Now, we’ll take a look at what ORAC units actually are and why they’re so important to your body.
ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It’s a test tube analysis that’s designed to measure the antioxidant power of different foods, much like an SPF rating for sunscreen. The USDA recommends consuming at least 3,000 ORAC units a day to help prevent signs of degradation in the skin, body and mind. Recent findings suggest that consuming a high number of ORAC units can help prevent disease and delay the aging process.
It is believed that oxidative stress significantly contributes to the development of diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease and more. Alternatively, antioxidant foods with high ORAC values may be able to help reduce your risk of developing these and other diseases. In addition to these degenerative and potentially life-threatening diseases, free radicals are known to cause major issues within the skin, as well as cosmetically significant damage, such as wrinkles, loss of elasticity and more. Antioxidant skin care products containing ingredients with high ORAC values may help decrease the likelihood of this type of damage from occurring within the skin.
While 3,000 ORAC units may seem like quite a lot to take in each and every day, it is not as difficult as one might guess. For example, one half cup of dried small red beans contains 13,727 ORAC units! Plus, the benefits of antioxidants are certainly worth the trouble of including antioxidant foods with high ORAC values in your diet. Simply sprinkle some fresh wild blueberries (13,427/cup) on your morning oatmeal or toss a cup of cooked artichoke hearts (7,904/cup) with pasta and olive oil and you have yourself a healthy meal high in both ORAC units and flavor!