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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 Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
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 Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
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.
To learn more see http://www.rxforwellness.com/shoppingchannel/foundationalantiagingp_5.shtml
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