May 23, 2011 Article: ORAC Intake, Health Outcomes, and the Common Diseases of Aging - by Dr. John H Maher, ABAAHP
Occasionally I receive inquiries relating to the potency of various "Green Super Food Instant Juice Powder Mix" type products on the market. One such letter assured me that the better Greens products "had all been tested by Kirlian Photo-graphy". Another stated that their product "tested out at 250 MHZ (megahertz?)", which may have explained why 16 oz was $140!
Now, being a practitioner of alternative medicine for over two decades, I do not wish to disparage these alternative evaluation methods. The fact remains however, that such "measurements" have dubious value in the current world of nutritional science. The gold standard for "live" fruit, vegetable and herbal juice powder mixes ought to be their ORAC value. For starting with antioxidant / phytonutirient rich plants and utilizing proper low light, low heat and low oxygen exposure quality controlled processing, a high antioxidant juice powder should emerge without having to add antioxidant vitamins like Vit. C, A or E, or minerals like zinc and selenium. Therefore, I thought it prudent to publish the following article. "ORAC Intake, Health Outcomes, and the Common Diseases of Aging "
"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," Floyd P. Horn, administrator, Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition ResearchCenter on Aging at TuftsUniversity in Boston.
ORAC, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, is a test tube analysis that measures the total antioxidant power of foods and other chemical substances. Antioxidant power is the ability to neutralize oxygen free radicals. Therefore ORAC testing is a way to measure how many oxygen radicals a specific food can absorb. The more oxygen radicals a food can absorb, the higher its ORAC score.
Foods that score high in an antioxidant analysis called ORAC may protect cells and their components from oxidative damage. So suggests the latest studies of animals and human blood at the Agricultural Research Service's HumanNutrition ResearchCenter on Aging at TuftsUniversity
in Boston. (ARS is the chief scientific agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.) In other words the higher a foods ORAC score, the better it is at helping our bodies fight diseases like cancer and heart disease.
Oxygen radicals are chemicals that are naturally formed inside our bodies by the process of oxidation. They are normal by products of everyday functions like digestion and physical activity. We are also all exposed daily to polluted air, ingest oxidized or partially rancid
foods, and oxidizing radiations from the sun and various electrical appliances.
Free radicals are bad for our health in many ways. A good illustrative
example of the harmful of oxidation is rusting. When metal rusts it becomes weak
and flaky, it starts to degenerate or decay until it no longer performs its
functions well. Eventually the metal "fatigues" and "fails". THIS EXACT SAME
PROCESS HAPPENS IN OUR BODY! Just like in rusting, the cells, organs, and other
parts of our body can be made weak by oxidation. This can lead to diseases like
cancer, heart disease, cataracts and macular degeneration, osteoarthritis,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), senile dementia and other
neurodegenerative diseases, and perhaps even skin aging and wrinkling!
The Free Radical Theory of Aging
is the thesis that oxidative damage culminates in many of the above maladies of
aging is now well accepted in the health community. Therefore, if our bodies can
quench these oxygen radicals before they do damage, then they won't hurt us.
Chemicals that neutralize oxidation from free radicals are called antioxidants.
The antioxidant evidence has spurred skyrocketing sales of antioxidant vitamins.
But several large trials have had mixed results on vitamin pills as far as
achieving the desired benefits. This may be because there are hundreds, maybe
even thousands, of antioxidant phytonutrients (plant chemical nutrients) in
natural plant foods and herbs. Some of these phytonutrients we have identified,
many more as yet remain to be identified. What we do know is that most of these
powerfully beneficial plant compounds are not found in vitamin pills. Therefore,
it is not surprising that nutritional science has found that those who eat 8-10
servings of fruits and vegetables a day suffer from a much lower incidence of
the common chronic degenerative diseases of aging as compared to those who eat
only 2 or 3 servings a day.
By the year 2050, nearly one-third of the U.S.population is expected to be over age 65. If further research supports these early findings, millions of aging people may be able to guard against many of the worst and most common diseases simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets! This could save much suffering, as well as reduce the staggering cost of treating and caring for the elderly.
Dr. Guohua Cao, a physician and chemist, developed the ORAC test while he was a visiting scientist at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, Maryland. According to Dr. Cao, "The ORAC value covers all the antioxidants in foods. You cannot easily measure each antioxidant separately, but you can use the ORAC assay to identify which phyto-nutrients are the important antioxidants. It may be that combinations of nutrients found in foods have greater protective effects than each nutrient taken alone."
New, natural plant chemicals are being discovered every day. We don't know as yet which ones, in what amounts, best fight cancer and other diseases. But we do know that as our knowledge is so limited, it is best to get these plant chemicals from plant foods, NOT just supplements, to fully enjoy the disease-fighting benefits.
We do know some of the best plant foods however. Dark greens and brightly colored plant foods are the ones with the highest ORAC scores. Think strawberries, spinach, kale, cauliflower, blueberries, wild tart cherries, prunes, tomatoes, carrots and the like.
It is important to understand that the ORAC values of fruits and vegetables cover such a broad range. Dr. Coa instructs us that, "you can pick seven with low values and get only about 1,300 ORAC units. Or, you can eat seven with high values and reach 6,000 ORAC units or more. One cup of blueberries alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units." Generally the minimum recommended "5-a-day" vegetables and fruits program is considered to be supplying about 1750 ORAC units daily.
In the studies, eating plenty of high-ORAC foods raised the antioxidant power of human blood 10 to 25 percent. Based on the evidence so far, some experts suggest that daily intake be increased to approximately 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity.
The best way to do this is to eat eight to ten servings of mostly dark greens and brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Of course this may be difficult for many of us to do on a daily basis. Therefore specially prepared super food powder mixes of fruit and vegetable juice and related phytonutrient extracts can be a convenient second best alternative. Just be sure to pick a super food powder mix that first of all tastes good, so that the whole family will enjoy it. Secondly, make sure that the label states that each serving supplies at least 3500 ORAC units.
What is ORAC and why is it important?
Who are the original ORAC developers?
The methodology of ORAC was originally developed by Dr. Guohua Cao of the National Institute of Aging in 1992 . In 1995, Dr. Cao jointed with Dr. Ronald L. Prior's group at Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, where Drs. Cao and Prior were instrumental in semi-automating the ORAC assay . Since then, the ORAC assay has been extensively utilized in the field of antioxidants and oxidative stress
Studies at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston suggest that consuming fruits and vegetables with a high-ORAC value may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. ORAC--short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity--measures the ability of foods, blood plasma, and just about any substance to subdue oxygen free radicals in the test tube.
Science has long held that damage by oxygen free radicals is behind many of the maladies that come with aging, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. There's firm evidence that a high intake of fruits and vegetables reduces risk of cancer and that a low intake raises risk. And recent evidence suggests that diminished brain function associated with aging and disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases may be due to increased vulnerability to free radicals, says Joseph, a neuroscientist. ...
The researchers have been testing whether antioxidants other than vitamins are absorbed into the blood and protect the cells. And the results look promising.
The findings in this article as stated are: "Based on the evidence so far, Prior and Cao suggest that daily intake be increased to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity."
Its in the Blood [PRay's comment .. see Levitcus 17:10 - 11]
Several laboratories have reported that people can absorb individual flavonoids thought to have protective powers. Prior and Cao now have good evidence that food antioxidants not only are absorbed, they boost the antioxidant power of the blood.
In an earlier study at the Boston center, 36 men and women ranging in age from 20 to 80 had doubled their fruit and vegetable intake. According to the participants' responses on a food frequency questionnaire, they averaged about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the year before the study. That intake was doubled to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the study.
To estimate ORAC intakes for the participants, the two researchers matched the questionnaire and the diet data with their own antioxidant values for each fruit and vegetable. Before the study, says Prior, the participants averaged 1,670 ORAC units daily. Increasing their fruit and vegetable intake to 10 a day raised the ORAC intake to between 3,300 and 3,500 ORAC units—or about twice the previous antioxidant capacity.
Based on the participants' blood samples, the antioxidants were absorbed. The ORAC value of blood plasma increased between 13 and 15 percent on the experimental diet. This supports results of a preliminary study in which Prior and Cao saw a 10- to 25-percent rise in serum ORAC after eight women ate test meals containing high-ORAC foods, red wine, or vitamin C. They tested red wine because it has a high ORAC value—higher than white wine—and has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Ten ounces of fresh spinach produced the biggest rise in the women's blood antioxidant scores—even greater than was caused by 1,250 milligrams of vitamin C. An 8-ounce serving of strawberries was less effective than vitamin C but a little more effective than 9.6 ounces of red wine.
Prior says the increase in plasma ORAC can't be fully explained by increases in plasma levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, or carotenoids, so the body must be absorbing other components in these fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant capacity of the blood seems to be tightly regulated, he says. Still, "a significant increase of 15 to 20 percent is possible by increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly those high in antioxidant capacity."
The ORAC values of fruits and vegetables cover such a broad range, he adds, "you can pick seven with low values and get only about 1,300 ORAC units. Or, you can eat seven with high values and reach 6,000 ORAC units or more. One cup of blueberries alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units."
Fruits with high oxygen radical absorbance capacity are freeze-dried by technician John McEwen for feeding in experimental fat diets.
(K8354-1)
Based on the evidence so far, Prior and Cao suggest that daily intake be increased to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity.
Full USDA article here
Added 04/14/2011 PRay
This is probably my final treatise about ORAC unless I find something more compelling to pass along. I have seen other products, which may be as good as NatraBurst, but I haven't found any that have the full spectrum of nutrients, at the same 4000 ORAC level, at a competitive price. So, I have convinced myself that NatraBurst is what I am looking for to help meet my daily fruit and vegetable intake for improving my overall health. Check the listing of ingredients at www.GreenEntree.com The included business plan at no additional cost is the dessert. <broad smile>
Evidently, research about fruits and vegetable's ORAC value has been in play for some time. I have read some documents that claim to have origins into the early 1990's. Of course, we've known since Popeye that eating your veggies is good for you. Some of the people who promote ORAC, make wild claims about ORAC values into the high 10,000's and they infer their product has the effect of reversing the aging process (Ponce De Leon anyone).
Some of the claims have some validity based on private and government research concerning eating the proper combination of fruits and vegetables which provides your body with the nutrients necessary for natural healing. I have long been a proponent of our life force being strongly influenced by our blood somehow, it's a faith thing or as Momma said; "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!" There are several references in the Bible about life is in the blood so I know there is something to this science.
So, it took this research into my question of "what is ORAC?" to allow me to put together my belief in the Bible with modern research about ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) to better realize that our blood moves through every organ in our body, (except strangly enough our teeth(; this healthy blood helps in the removing of harmful toxins which are the byproduct of creating energy; while helping to rebuild the destroyed mass of muscle and other critical tissue in our bodies to keep our engine running. This is very slimplistic, but it puts it into perspective for me.
We know eating healthy foods helps us to have healthy bodies, but many of us just plain don't have the time it takes to find, prepare and consume the quantities of the right foods to maintain this health. We are no longer hunter/gatherers.
Luckily, the enzymes and nutrients found in these fruits and vegetables are available in foods that are processed by cold drying methods reducing them to a powder form that is easily ingested. ie NatraBurst! Check it out at www.GreenEntree.com,
Following is more information about ORAC that I have hopefully synthesized to a more understandable form, some of the links are listed but some I forgot to copy.
The original Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity assay, ORAC for short, was developed at the National Institutes on Aging in Baltimore, MD. The NIA was thereby able to measure the antioxidant power of foods. The U.S. Agricultural Research Service considers their subsequent automation of the otherwise cumbersome ORAC assay as one of its major research accomplishments. In 2001, scientists at Brunswick Laboratories, Inc., Wareham, MA, developed the technology further so as to not interact with antioxidants...
In 2003 typing in "ORAC and Antioxidants" got 3800 hits. In Feb. 2006, Google turned up 56,300! ORAC testing in 2002, the research by the US government that stated that those persons who ate a high ORAC diet derived from fruits and vegetables of all the colors suffered significantly less of all the common diseases of aging.
Though today there may be nutraceuticals made from one or two “super antioxidant” berries (goji), beans (coffee), fruits (mangosteen), tea (white) that have very high ORAC scores, that does not mean that they are necessarily better, stronger, or more health promoting than a wide variety of other lower ORAC plant foods.
In 2003, " The Physiological Functions of Phytonutrients: A Brief Introduction”,
Research shows individual phytonutrients can:
Nonetheless, ORAC and other antioxidant testing are valuable quality measures. The responsible leaders in the phytonutrient functional food field will publish and provide honest, current ORAC scores and begin to provide more comprehensive antioxidant profiles and invivo antioxidant results.
http://www.aaimedicine.com/jaaim/apr06/orac.php
http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view/13098
The methodology of ORAC was originally developed by Dr. Guohua Cao of the National Institute of Aging in 1992 . In 1995, Dr. Cao jointed with Dr. Ronald L. Prior's group at Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, where Drs. Cao and Prior were instrumental in semi-automating the ORAC assay . Since then, the ORAC assay has been extensively utilized in the field of antioxidants and oxidative stress
Studies at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston suggest that consuming fruits and vegetables with a high-ORAC value may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. ORAC--short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity--measures the ability of foods, blood plasma, and just about any substance to subdue oxygen free radicals in the test tube.
Science has long held that damage by oxygen free radicals is behind many of the maladies that come with aging, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. There's firm evidence that a high intake of fruits and vegetables reduces risk of cancer and that a low intake raises risk. And recent evidence suggests that diminished brain function associated with aging and disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases may be due to increased vulnerability to free radicals, says Joseph, a neuroscientist. ...
The researchers have been testing whether antioxidants other than vitamins are absorbed into the blood and protect the cells. And the results look promising.
The findings in this article as stated are: "Based on the evidence so far, Prior and Cao suggest that daily intake be increased to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity."
Its in the Blood [PRay's comment .. see Levitcus 17:10 - 11]
Several laboratories have reported that people can absorb individual flavonoids thought to have protective powers. Prior and Cao now have good evidence that food antioxidants not only are absorbed, they boost the antioxidant power of the blood.
In an earlier study at the Boston center, 36 men and women ranging in age from 20 to 80 had doubled their fruit and vegetable intake. According to the participants' responses on a food frequency questionnaire, they averaged about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the year before the study. That intake was doubled to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily during the study.
To estimate ORAC intakes for the participants, the two researchers matched the questionnaire and the diet data with their own antioxidant values for each fruit and vegetable. Before the study, says Prior, the participants averaged 1,670 ORAC units daily. Increasing their fruit and vegetable intake to 10 a day raised the ORAC intake to between 3,300 and 3,500 ORAC units—or about twice the previous antioxidant capacity.
Based on the participants' blood samples, the antioxidants were absorbed. The ORAC value of blood plasma increased between 13 and 15 percent on the experimental diet. This supports results of a preliminary study in which Prior and Cao saw a 10- to 25-percent rise in serum ORAC after eight women ate test meals containing high-ORAC foods, red wine, or vitamin C. They tested red wine because it has a high ORAC value—higher than white wine—and has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Ten ounces of fresh spinach produced the biggest rise in the women's blood antioxidant scores—even greater than was caused by 1,250 milligrams of vitamin C. An 8-ounce serving of strawberries was less effective than vitamin C but a little more effective than 9.6 ounces of red wine.
Prior says the increase in plasma ORAC can't be fully explained by increases in plasma levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, or carotenoids, so the body must be absorbing other components in these fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant capacity of the blood seems to be tightly regulated, he says. Still, "a significant increase of 15 to 20 percent is possible by increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly those high in antioxidant capacity."
The ORAC values of fruits and vegetables cover such a broad range, he adds, "you can pick seven with low values and get only about 1,300 ORAC units. Or, you can eat seven with high values and reach 6,000 ORAC units or more. One cup of blueberries alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units."
Fruits with high oxygen radical absorbance capacity are freeze-dried by technician John McEwen for feeding in experimental fat diets.
(K8354-1)
Based on the evidence so far, Prior and Cao suggest that daily intake be increased to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity.
Full USDA article here
Added 04/14/2011 PRay
This is probably my final treatise about ORAC unless I find something more compelling to pass along. I have seen other products, which may be as good as NatraBurst, but I haven't found any that have the full spectrum of nutrients, at the same 4000 ORAC level, at a competitive price. So, I have convinced myself that NatraBurst is what I am looking for to help meet my daily fruit and vegetable intake for improving my overall health. Check the listing of ingredients at www.GreenEntree.com The included business plan at no additional cost is the dessert. <broad smile>
Evidently, research about fruits and vegetable's ORAC value has been in play for some time. I have read some documents that claim to have origins into the early 1990's. Of course, we've known since Popeye that eating your veggies is good for you. Some of the people who promote ORAC, make wild claims about ORAC values into the high 10,000's and they infer their product has the effect of reversing the aging process (Ponce De Leon anyone).
Some of the claims have some validity based on private and government research concerning eating the proper combination of fruits and vegetables which provides your body with the nutrients necessary for natural healing. I have long been a proponent of our life force being strongly influenced by our blood somehow, it's a faith thing or as Momma said; "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!" There are several references in the Bible about life is in the blood so I know there is something to this science.
So, it took this research into my question of "what is ORAC?" to allow me to put together my belief in the Bible with modern research about ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) to better realize that our blood moves through every organ in our body, (except strangly enough our teeth(; this healthy blood helps in the removing of harmful toxins which are the byproduct of creating energy; while helping to rebuild the destroyed mass of muscle and other critical tissue in our bodies to keep our engine running. This is very slimplistic, but it puts it into perspective for me.
We know eating healthy foods helps us to have healthy bodies, but many of us just plain don't have the time it takes to find, prepare and consume the quantities of the right foods to maintain this health. We are no longer hunter/gatherers.
Luckily, the enzymes and nutrients found in these fruits and vegetables are available in foods that are processed by cold drying methods reducing them to a powder form that is easily ingested. ie NatraBurst! Check it out at www.GreenEntree.com,
Following is more information about ORAC that I have hopefully synthesized to a more understandable form, some of the links are listed but some I forgot to copy.
The original Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity assay, ORAC for short, was developed at the National Institutes on Aging in Baltimore, MD. The NIA was thereby able to measure the antioxidant power of foods. The U.S. Agricultural Research Service considers their subsequent automation of the otherwise cumbersome ORAC assay as one of its major research accomplishments. In 2001, scientists at Brunswick Laboratories, Inc., Wareham, MA, developed the technology further so as to not interact with antioxidants...
In 2003 typing in "ORAC and Antioxidants" got 3800 hits. In Feb. 2006, Google turned up 56,300! ORAC testing in 2002, the research by the US government that stated that those persons who ate a high ORAC diet derived from fruits and vegetables of all the colors suffered significantly less of all the common diseases of aging.
Though today there may be nutraceuticals made from one or two “super antioxidant” berries (goji), beans (coffee), fruits (mangosteen), tea (white) that have very high ORAC scores, that does not mean that they are necessarily better, stronger, or more health promoting than a wide variety of other lower ORAC plant foods.
In 2003, " The Physiological Functions of Phytonutrients: A Brief Introduction”,
Research shows individual phytonutrients can:
- facilitate cell-to-cell communication,
- modify cellular receptor uptake of hormones,
- convert to vitamin A,
- repair DNA damage from toxic exposure,
- detoxify carcinogens through the activation of the cytochrome P450 and Phase II liver enzyme systems,
- serve as antioxidants to help prevent various forms of cancer,
- cause apoptosis (cell death) in cancer cells,
- enhance immune response,
- help prevent cardiovascular disease,
- help prevent osteoporosis,
- help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts.
Nonetheless, ORAC and other antioxidant testing are valuable quality measures. The responsible leaders in the phytonutrient functional food field will publish and provide honest, current ORAC scores and begin to provide more comprehensive antioxidant profiles and invivo antioxidant results.
http://www.aaimedicine.com/jaaim/apr06/orac.php
http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view/13098
