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Antioxidant ORAC and Ageing

What are Antioxidants

Antioxidant foods

USDA Agricultural Research Service published an article ' High ORAC Foods may slow Aging on February 8, 1999. This article has become a new corner stone in the nutrition for elderly as is seen today.

ORAC is short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, it is a test tube analysis to measure total antioxidant power and other chemical substance in the foods. ORAC assay was developed by Guohua (Howard) Cao.

The studies over past decade suggest that high ORAC foods help slow down the ageing of body and brain. We are at early stages of these studies. In one of the studies, Spinach was found to be more effective than strawberries in protecting some nerve cells, though, Strawberries score higher than Spinach by the ORAC assay. It remains unexplained. Perhaps, it  is a combination of nutrients. 

Top scoring Fruits and vegetables are shown in the following table