Blackberries
Blackberries are among the highest antioxidant foods. Photo by Sasha Dunaevski | SXC.
 
MENU

   

 

 

NutriNibbles

Main Page
Articles & Reviews

 

   

Product Reviews

Main Page
Articles & Reviews

 

  

Home Page

Link to Other Sections:
Newsletter, Marketplace,
Food Fun, Home Zone

 

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE.

 

 

June 2006

Last Updated April 2018

Product Reviews / NutriNibbles

A Guide To High-Antioxidant Food

Page 7: ORAC Value Foods Chart

 

 

This is Page 7 of an eight-page article. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.



ORAC Values

As you look at the ORAC chart below, remember the points discussed on the previous page:

  • No one can yet tell you how much you need to eat of anything, to potentially ward off that heart attack, Alzheimer’s, etc.
  • Freshness issues, the impact of cooking, and the synergy of eating foods in combination are not yet known.
  • By all means, eat those high-antioxidant foods; but all-around healthy living is still your first line of attack.
ORAC Units Per 100 Grams‡

(About 3-1/2 Ounces)
Beverages & Chocolate
  • Undutched cocoa powder (34,396, 1.5 ounces) a
  • Dark, semisweet chocolate (8,849  1.5 ounce) a especially 85% cocoa solids but a minimum of 70%
  • Red Wine - Cabernet Sauvignon* (5,034 5 ounces) a
  • Red Wine - Other  (3,873 5 ounces) a
  • Red grape juice (4,055 8 ounces) a
  • Milk chocolate (3,119 1.5 ounce)
  • Chocolate Syrup (2,690 1.5 ounce)
  • White tea
  • Green rooibos
  • Green tea (1253) a
  • Red rooibos
  • Oolong tea
  • Black tea


__________
*Note: To understand how important the red grape antioxidants are, the same amount of rose wine has 1005 ORAC units, and white wine just 392.
 

.

Top Antioxidant Fruits**
  • Açaí (18,500)
  • Montmorency cherry† (12,800)
  • Blackberry (5347)
  • Elderberries (10,624 cup) a
  • Apples, Dried To 40% Moisture (6681) a
  • Prunes (5,770)
  • Blueberries (especially wild blueberry, a.k.a. bilberry) (4,736 cup) a
  • Dark grapes including  currants, raisins, purple grape juice and red wine (2,830)
  • Cranberry (1,750)
  • Strawberry (1,540, 5938/cup)
  • Raspberry (2,976 cup) a
  • Apple, Fuji, Raw With Skin
    (2589) a
  • Plum (949, 4,118/each)
  • Orange (750, 2,540/ea.)
  • Red grape (739, 2,016/cup)
  • Cherry, especially (670, 4,873/cup)
  • Avocado (3,334 each)
  • Kiwi (602)
  • Grapefruit, pink (483)

 

__________
**We have seen ORAC values of up to 12,800 per 100g for Montmorency cherry juice in other assays, making it one of the highest-value fruits. Citrus fruit’s high concentration of antioxidants are in the pulp, which is not the portion consumed. Cup size figures from USDA.

 

†Blueberry contains more antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetable, except for açaí, when compared on the basis of equal calories. Açaí is only available in juice form.

 

Cruciferous 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)
Nuts, Grains, Herbs

Nuts

  • Walnuts (3,839 ounce) a
  • Pecans (5,086 ounce) a
  • Hazelnut

 

Seeds & Grains

  • Oats
  • Sunflower seeds

Herbs

  • Allspice
  • Cinnamon
  • Cloves
  • Ginger
  • Lemon balm
  • Oregano
  • Peppermint
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Thyme
Other Vegetables
  • Artichoke
  • Asparagus
  • Avocado
  • Beans (small red beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans)
  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Olives (in the form of extra virgin olive oil)
  • Red pepper
  • Russet potato
  • Spinach
  • Tomato

‡ORAC numbers from (a) ORAC of Selected Foods, USDA 2007 and (b) Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Generally, the deeper and richer the color of fruits and vegetables, the higher the quantity of antioxidants. Many fruits and vegetables are also high in fiber, minerals and vitamins.

  • Fruit juice contains antioxidants, but not as much as the fruits from which they are made, since the antioxidants are concentrated in the skins and pulps.
  • The color rule of thumb does not apply to varieties of tea. The darker the variety of tea, the lower its antioxidant concentration, because it has been oxidized.

Continue To Page 8: Açaí

Go To The Article Index Above

 

Recent Articles From Our NutriNibbles™ News Feed:

Subscribing notifies you whenever there are
new additions to the NutriNibbles™ section.


Subscribe to THE NIBBLE™ NutriNibbles™ by Email

 

All photos courtesy Stock Xchng.



© Copyright 2005-2024 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. All images are copyrighted to their respective owners.