Beware of Antioxidant Branding

I love antioxidants as much as, if not more than, the next person. But I prefer to get them directly from organic whole foods such as berries, vegetables, beans and nuts as opposed to trying to irradicate free-radicals via breakfast cereals, soft drinks and other highly processed foods that claim to be packed with these cancer-fighting agents.

Hundreds of products have been developed in the last few years that boast antioxidants, or high ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) values. But those statements have not really been evaluated and proven to be true, according to an article by FoodProductionDaily.com

“Just increasing the ORAC value provides no guarantee of greater benefit. It’s pure marketing and it is time the nutraceutical industry steps up to the plate and substantiates implicit and explicit claims of performance based on product antioxidant content,” states Alex Schauss, PhD, founder of AIBMR Life Sciences, a nutraceutical products consulting company based in Puyallup, Washington.

So...if you really want to get your antioxidants, feast on whole foods like red kidney beans, blueberries, cranberries, pinto beans, artichokes, pecans and more. Here's an article about antioxidants and a list of un-processed foods that contain them.