Oxygen Elements

Oxygen Elements

What is an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) Score and is it Meaningful?

Many nutritional products advertise an ORAC score. What is an ORAC score? Is it of any importance to us? Is it better to have a high or a low ORAC score? What is a "good" ORAC score? These are the questions that will be addressed in this article.

ORAC is an acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. An ORAC score is a test tube analysis that measures the antioxidant levels of food or other chemical substances. Mangosteen products (mangosteen juice, mangosteen tea, mangosteen extract) often advertise an ORAC value. If a food has a high ORAC score, this means that the food is high in antioxidants. The antioxidant's power is it's ability to eliminate oxygen free radicals. A higher ORAC score means that the ability to fight diseases is stronger.

Oxygen radicals are chemicals that form naturally inside the body through the process of oxidation. Activities we perform every day such as physical motion and digestion produce oxygen radicals. Exposure to rancid food, polluted air, the sun and electricity also contribute to oxygen radicals. Foods or supplements with a high ORAC score may be able to protect cells from oxidative damage.

Think of the wood used in an outdoor patio as an example of oxidation. When you first build and paint your nice and shiny deck and patio in your back yard it looks so nice. Ten, twenty, or thirty years later when your house is on the market and retirement is around the bend that deck, if it still exists, doesn't look as nice any more. Rain, air and the outdoor elements have just taken their toll on the wood. In a similar manner, organs, cells and other parts of the body can be weakened by oxidation. This leads to problems such as cancer and heart diseases.

The ORAC score covers all the antioxidants in foods, which cannot be easily measured separately. The ORAC test can identify which nutrients are the important antioxidants. It's a matter of symbiosis; combinations of nutrients found in food may have greater protective benefits than each nutrient on its own.

Different types of fruit and vegetables have different ORAC scores. It we eat the recommended 5 helpings of fruits and vegetables; we will have, on average, an ORAC score of 1,750 units. If we are careful and pick fruits with high ORAC scores we can do much better. And or course, we can also do worse. You may be surprised to know that an extremely high ORAC score comes from blueberries. A large handful would give an ORAC score of about 6,000. And they taste so good too!

Studies have shown that eating food with a high ORAC score will raise the antioxidant levels In the blood by about approximately 10% - 25%. Experts suggest that an ORAC score of around 5,000 units per day is necessary to have a significant effect on blood and tissue antioxidant levels. It would take about 8 to 10 brightly colored fruits and vegetables or dark greens to achieve this level. That is hard to do. As we begin to notice ORAC scores on some of the food and supplements we purchase it will not hurt to take notice. ORAC scores of 5,000 or higher are recognized as a significant level.