What is ORAC and why I should want to know about it?

ORAC is an abbreviation for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, but this definition is not going to do a great deal to help the average person.

Even if it is explained to you that ORAC is a measurement you are still not going to be so much the wiser unless you have taken an interest in personal health and became familiar with the terminology in regular use.

A necessary preamble to understand what ORAC aims to measure is having some basic knowledge of how the processes of disease and aging affect the human body and the forces fighting against these unwelcome visitors.

A process known as oxidation takes place within our bodies to metabolize fats and glucose required for producing the heat and energy essential for existence.

While one aspect of oxidation plays this positive role, by creating the harmful compounds known as free radicals, oxidation also sets in motion forces that damage tissue and open the way to disease and faster aging.

Yet there are also natural elements within the body known as antioxidants and they act as an internal defense force resisting these free radicals. The theory of antioxidant health enhancement focuses on boosting the body’s antioxidant levels and thereby strengthening its defenses.

Antioxidants are found in vitamins, minerals and enzymes and are present in a number of foods and drinks, green vegetables, natural fruit juices and teas being some of the best known food sources.

Having made this necessary detour into the fascinating internal processes going on in our bodies, you are now able to understand the significance of ORAC.

Scientists at the National Institute on Aging in Maryland, USA, devised ORAC as a measurement of the antioxidant levels of different foods. The accuracy and value of this measurement continues to be an issue of scientific debate, but there are many people who argue that ORAC values do represent a useful guide to drawing up a healthy diet to help combat disease and slow down aging.

It is easy to find ORAC values on the Internet and you can look for the ORAC value of your favorite food as a measurement of its health boosting qualities, or you can devise a diet incorporating foods with the highest ORAC values. For example, you will find that ground cloves and raw bran top the ORAC values list while raw lime and salad oil have the lowest ORAC ratings.