Posted on December 8th, 2009 by Craig Maltby, Editor
How valuable are ORAC values? Immune balancers want to know
Several years ago I worked with a researcher at a supplement ingredient company who may have been one of the absolute smartest guys I’v known. He was a Univ. of Florida Ph.D. food nutritionist. When we were sitting in a
company conferernce room and looking at the Biochemical Pathways chart, which looks like the schematic for an advanced Intel computer chip, I asked him if he had to study that in graduate school. “Study? You could say that. I pretty much had to memorize at least three-fourths of it.”
The product we both worked on was an antioxidant carotenoid, a plant-based phytochemical. Many people tout the ORAC value of antioxidants. ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. In overly simplistic terms, it is a technique for measuring the ability of a given compound to quench free-radicals, the oxidating process that can damage cells. My scientist colleague pointed out that ORAC value is something that shouldn’t be relied upon as the holy grail of antioxidant content; different antioxidants perform in different ways in the body. When I started seeing Cherry 7-Up soda bottles touting “antioxidant” on its label and Rice Krispies promoting “immunity support” on cereal boxes by adding 25% more of certain vitamins (and ceased using that new label last month), I started really wondering about all this antioxidant hoopla.
As one credible treatise put it several years ago, “with competitive use of ORAC values comes misconceptions and misuse.” It goes on: “Many companies are comparing ORAC values of their products to equal antioxidant activity of servings of fruits and vegetables, but which fruits or vegetables and what is the serving size? For example, one company’s website claimed its product contained equal antioxidant activity as compared to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, then further defines the equivalence by listing a head of lettuce and other low ORAC vegetables as part of the 10 servings.”
A more recent paper cites confusing applications of ORAC values in food products. Does a single raw ingredient, when combined with other ingredients and consumed in humans deliver the same ORAC function as when it was analyzed in laboratory assays? Some products may add a small bit of vitamin C to pump up the ORAC value of a product, when the primary product ingredient may be low in ORAC value. And, a product touting great antioxidant benefits via vitamin E or D may work much differently in the body than a product touting great antioxidant benefit through the presence of flavenols or catechins. We know a lot about plant-based micronutrients, but there’s a heck of a lot we still don’t know.
Bottom line: A diveristy of fresh fruits and vegetables will always do you good in the antioxidant department. Natural supplementation with accurately labeled ingredients, quality manufacturing and some science-backed efficacy behind them can be a useful antoxidant addition to the diet as well. (As someone told me, that’s why they’re called “supplements” not “replacements.”)
December 9th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Can we be sure that these ORAC values would be the same for everyone anyway? Or is every individual different in how their body reacts?
I would certainly support the diversity of fruit and vegetables in the diet, as long as they are consumed when fresh and not after their nutritional value has leaked away!
December 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I would venture to guess, as a non-scientist, that individual body chemistry plays a big role how everything is ingested and absorbed. Looked at your blog. Who are you? What is your blog for?