Practice a color-rich diet of whole foods.

Your health is in your own hands!

Should we be buying expensive antioxidant superfruit juices?

Part 1, click!

[follow the Wikipedia links]

Berries and other fruits qualifying as superfruits are not only just enjoyable to eat, but we have an expectation from them: we want them to contribute antioxidant value in our diet.

If fresh berries or other superfruits are not convenient, however, many consumers turn to antioxidant superfruit juices, pills or powders for fighting oxygen radicals.

The convenience factor of using juices, smoothies, powders or pills is important in consumer behavior and is unlikely to change, so we accept these more convenient product formats as semi-permanent ways of achieving nutrition.

But questions remain about what we're actually getting...

Do these products really provide benefit?

Is the dietary antioxidant story really

all it's cracked up to be?

Or are we buying the marketing message?

In science, we want to hear all points of view, especially

those that put exaggerated marketing hype

under the spotlight of objective scrutiny.

In a "Townhall Meeting", we stand on the stage with no props or camouflage of the truth -- it's just the audience, the speaker and the topic... all undressed of fanfare.

So for August, we're going to look at 3 questions each week to unravel the truth about antioxidant superfruit juices and supplements -- sold to consumers like Aspirin is for headaches.

Aspirin works.

What benefits do antioxidant superfruit juices really offer?

Summary of Main Points from Part 1

1. vitamins A, C and E are established essential nutrients with antioxidant purposes in the body, but few superfruit juices or supplements contain them

2. most superfruit juices emphasize anthocyanins and other polyphenols as important antioxidant ingredients, but research has not yet convinced scientists about a biological role for these compounds in the human body

3. in fact, there is evidence that the human body aggressively metabolizes and eliminates anthocyanins and polyphenols after eating a meal rich in these compounds

4. wouldn't this suggest that maybe only small amounts are needed in the diet, and could be easily obtained by eating inexpensive colorful foods rather than trying to load up on antioxidants from expensive beverages?

Townhall Meeting

PART 2

[follow the Wikipedia links]

[Due to operator and computer errors combined, the

original Part 2 of this series was overwritten and lost.

We apologize for the loss of information]

Question #1

Antioxidant superfruit juices propose to give us extra antioxidants by using exotic fruits.

Do we need extra antioxidants, and is there any potential harm from too much antioxidant intake?

Three facts can be stated

1. there is no evidence from scientific research that more antioxidant intake from food or specialized beverages means more protection against disease
2. the whole purpose of antioxidant superfruit juices seems to be for extra antioxidant intake -- the actual content of essential nutrients we need seems to be ignored
3. although there is considerable current research on dietary antioxidants, very little has been done on humans (most of it is from test tubes or lab animals). Preliminary human results to date indicate that our bodies do not want extra antioxidants, so actively metabolize or excrete them. High antioxidant intake may even be harmful, click!

[Due to operator and computer errors combined, the

original Part 2 of this series was overwritten and lost.

We apologize for the repetition with Part 3]

Question #2 

What are some common foods from the ORAC charts that could supply an adequate antioxidant intake from simple daily meals?

Click on this link to download the USDA ORAC charts

for 277 common foods consumed in the United States

For reference, a previous study of the ORAC charts from the Berry Doctor's Journal, click!

Navigate to page 8 of the document. We are interested in the total ORAC score 3 lines from the top for each food -- the "Mean" (average) value listed. Units shown are the ORAC value per 100 g (about 3.5 ounces of the food).

US Department of Agriculture scientists who devised the ORAC measurement recommend people try to eat only 6,000 to 10,000 total ORAC units per day.

This would be sufficient for antioxidant functions in the human body, and would include sources of the proven antioxidant vitamins, A, C and E.

Part 2 also showed how easy it is to obtain 12,000+ ORAC units in one day's meals -- just from four common foods.

So be thinking critically about what you spend on

-- and what you get from --

antioxidant superfruit juices:

what are we actually getting as

food value from these juices?

Some common foods with high ORAC -- easy to insert into your daily diet

• page 18, noor dates, ORAC = 3895
• page 19, raw red grapes, ORAC = 1260
• page 20, pomegranate juice, ORAC = 2341
• page 21, raw red leaf lettuce, ORAC = 2380
• page 22, pecan nuts, ORAC = 17,940
• page 23, raw red onion, ORAC = 1521
• page 24, raw navel orange, ORAC = 1819

Is the point made?

7 moderate servings of inexpensive, often-favored, common foods shown above provide more than 30,000 ORAC units or 3x more than is likely needed.

These 7 foods are just examples. Choose some for yourself from the ORAC charts and spread them across meals consumed over the day. It's that simple.

Why complicate a diet and spend exhorbitant amounts on superfruit juices when whole foods -- packed with actual essential nutrients not present in most superfruit juices -- furnish what we need in their native delicious forms?

• page 24, fresh oregano, ORAC = 13,970 [Note -- no chef would ever use so much spice for one meal, but the number makes a point: spices have the highest ORACs of any common foods, so check out the charts for spices, select a few, and use them in your meal preparation!]

Question #3

Can we get enough antioxidant intake just from common foods?

Absolutely.

Let's keep it simple.

The best science on ORAC has come from USDA researchers --the people who invented and refined the methods for measuring antioxidant capacity.

Read this article which provides the two statements

[Note: after this article was published in 1999,

the ORAC method was refined, essentially doubling

the values published up to that time.

To be safe, let's double the numbers from the article]

"Based on the evidence so far, ... daily intake should be between

6,000 and 10,000 ORAC units

to have a significant impact

on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity."

and

"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 2,600 ORAC units.

Or, you can eat seven with high values

and reach 12,000 ORAC units or more.

One cup of blueberries alone supplies 6,400 ORAC units."

Here are a few ordinary foods from any grocery store, with good ORAC numbers provided from just one serving -- an amount for each of 100 grams (equal to about half a US cup or 3.5 ounces) that would fit in the palm of your hand

(the foods are listed in alphabetical order in the USDA ORAC charts. Read the number that says "Total-ORAC" from the column named "Mean" = average)

• apple, red delicious, with skin, 4250
• broccoli, cooked, boiled, no salt, 2386
• cereal, ready-to-eat low-fat granola, with raisins, 2294
• cherries, sweet, raw, 3365

Stop. We're done. Just into the C's in the alphabetical chart!

We've spent, what? $3 for the above foods? ...

and obtained nutrients plus calories for the day's energy needs .

Total day's ORAC from only these 4 common foods =

12,295

well above the recommended optimum by USDA scientists

See how simple antioxidant intake is?

And each of those foods would provide the

full natural nutrient content of each food source.

Unlike most superfruit juices...

NEXT!

• a few more examples of common foods with high ORAC values
• how antioxidants may actually benefit or prevent a disease process
• which antioxidant phytochemicals are most likely to work... and which probably don't!

Contents of antioxidant phytochemicals and the principal nutrients of red grapes --

vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese and prebiotic fiber -- are reduced by the

mechanical pressing and heat of wine-making

Reading

References (inexpensive books on Amazon.com)

about one of the most commercially

successful antioxidant superfruit juices ! click