Antioxidant Foods
source:flickr by:atomicshark
Everyone’s talking about antioxidants and why we should be incorporating them into our daily diets. We’ve all heard about acai berries, green tea and blueberries, but those treats, while yummy, aren’t able to make up an antioxidant-rich meal. When searching for recipes that will give your body a huge helping of antioxidants, use this list of antioxidant foods as a quick reference.
The following foods are listed based on the USDA’s rating scale known as ORAC, or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. The USDA recommends eating 3,000 ORAC units a day to achieve optimal antioxidant benefits. The ORAC units included are per 100 grams or 3 1/2 ounces unless otherwise noted.
Fruits
- Acai (18,500)
- Montmorency cherry (12,800)
- Blackberry (2,036, 7,701/cup)
- Elderberries (10,624/cup)
- Apples, dried (6,681)
- Prunes (5,770)
- Blueberries (especially wild blueberry, a.k.a. bilberry) (4,736/cup)
- Dark grapes, including currants, raisins, purple grape juice and red wine (2,830)
- Cranberry (1,750)
- Strawberry (1,540, 5,938/cup)
- Raspberry (2,976/cup)
- Apple, Fuji, raw with skin (2589)
- Plum (949, 4,118/each)
- Orange (750, 2,540/each)
- Red grape (739, 2,016/cup)
- Cherry (non-Montmorency) (670, 4,873/cup)
- Avocado (3,334/each)
- Kiwi (602)
- Grapefruit, pink (483)
Vegetables
- Kale (1,770)
- Spinach (1,260)
- Brussels sprouts (980)
- Alfalfa sprouts (930)
- Broccoli flowers (890)
- Beets (840)
- Red bell pepper (710)
- Onion (450)
- Corn (400)
- Eggplant (390)
- Artichoke
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Beans
- Beets
- Carrots
- Olives (in the form of extra virgin olive oil)
- Red peppers
- Russet potato
- Spinach
- Tomato
Beverages and Chocolate
- Undutched cocoa powder (34,396/1.5 ounces)
- Dark, semisweet chocolate (minimum of 70% cocoa solids, preferably 85%) (8,849/1.5 ounce)
- Red Wine – Cabernet Sauvignon (5,034/5 ounces)
- Red Wine – Other (3,873/5 ounces)
- Red grape juice (4,055/8 ounces)
- Milk chocolate (3,119/1.5 ounce)
- Chocolate Syrup (2,690/1.5 ounce)
- White tea
- Green rooibos
- Green tea (1,253)
- Red rooibos
- Oolong tea
- Black tea
Other Food Sources
- Walnuts (3,839/ounce)
- Pecans (5,086/ounce)
- Hazelnut
- Allspice
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Lemon balm
- Oregano
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Thyme
- Oats
- Sunflower seeds
Antioxidant food listings and ORAC unit information found on TheNibble.com.
Now that you’re in-the-know when it comes to antioxidant foods, make sure to stuff your shopping cart with these delicious and healthful treats. With chocolate and wine on the list, it certainly won’t be too much of a chore to get the recommended 3,000 ORAC units!