Wines are among the products that have highest ORAC values. But... what is ORAC? Find out more about it and "french paradox".

In November, 1991 tv news magazine "60 minutes" reported that, although in Sounther France diet contains lot of cholerterol-ritch foods (butter, cheese, eggs, giblets etc) which promote heart disease, the heart disease rate is much lower than in US. It was called "French paradox".

Reasearches link it to the customary consumption of wine in France.

Wines are among products that are  the richest in antioxidants.

Free radicals and antioxidants.

Now, why should you be concerned about eating foods rich in antioxidants? Everyone is talking about how free radicals are bad for you, and that antioxidants are good, but why?

Free radicals are essential to many body functions. Our white blood cells use them for killing bacteria (see-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrophil_granulocyte ), free radicals play an important role in intracellular communication... However they are also produced by our bodies as a product of biochemical reactions, and are also present in highly processed food.What should worry us, is permanent excess of free radicals in our bodies that most of us experience. The two greatest dangers of excess amounts of free radicals are: DNA damage and lipid peroxidation. This leads directly to cell mutations and immune system dysfunctions, laying foundations for most of known diseases. Cancer, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, deafness, arthritis, diabetes to name but few.

And for ladies that are reading this, I have an even more frightening name of the  disease: cellulite.

Antioxidants are substances that have the ability to neutralize free radicals.

When you are on good diet... worry even more.

Many researches prove that good diet should contain lot of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They aren't called Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) for nothing. Best known anti-cancer diet, called Dr. Budwig's diet is based on flaxseed oil, the richest source of ALA, polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3.

Our body cells have membranes build from lipids. When the degree of unsaturation of the lipids that build our cells rises, the potential of membrane lipid peroxidation rises too. Simply speaking, the membranes of our body cells more easily become oxidated, and become... rancid. Food rich in EFA should be complemented by antioxidant-rich food to screen the cell membranes from excess oxidation.

"I exercise a lot, so I don't need to worry about free radicals"

You can't be more wrong. High intensity aerobic, anaerobic exercises and exercises performed at maximum muscle strength produce oxygen free radicals that cause damage to our organisms. Under normal conditions, or during moderate training at around 50% - 60% of aerobic capacity our 'build in' antioxidant defense system easily handles free radicals that are produces, however, during the time of more intensive exercise the amounts of free radicals produces may exceed that of removal.

When training, or even during weekend-sport activities we should supply ourselves with enough vitamins and antioxidants that would allow our bodies to regenerate easily. It often happens, that after two days of biking, swimming or mountain trekking on Monday we feel even more tired. The answer is simple - exercise was great for our body, but exercise is a stress. Feeling tired after means we did not supply our body with proper nutrition/supplements to handle it. Eventually we did ourselves more harm than good.

So, concluding, when training, remember to eat food rich in antioxidants, and a glass of Cabernet Souvignon in the evening is very welcome.

What is ORAC scale?

ORAC is abbreviation for Oxygen Radical Absorbance capacity. It is a measure of how many free radicals specific substances can absorb. If you are looking for foods that are rich in antioxidants, you should look for substances with high ORAC values. You should however notice that ORAC values are given in various units.

The most usual are "micromol of Trolox equivalents per gram" written as "micromoles TE/g" or "µmoles TE/g", when it comes to wines, and juices, the values are given often in "µmoles TE/L" or "µmoles TE/mL". Before you become confused with diferent ORAC value of a product, make sure it is given in the same units.

So:

1000 µmol TE/g = 1 mmol TE/g
1µmol TE / ml = 1000 µmol TE / L

For example, average Chardonnay wine has about 3,5 µmoles TE/mL = 3500 µmoles TE/L = 3,5 mmoles/L . Confusing, eh?

If you wish, however to explore more about ORAC there is a good article at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_radical_absorbance_capacity .

How much antioxidants should we eat daily?

Reasearches show that one should eat at least 3000-5000 ORAC units daily.

Which foods have greatest ORAC values?

Red wines have ORAC value several times higher than white wines. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Villard Noir all have between 10 000 – 20 000 , or even 25 000 per µmol TE/L (one Liter). A glass of good red wine (around 100 ml) contains around 1000 µmol TE, which is 20% of daily dose of antioxiants. However, drinking more red wine regulary will damage your liver. A glass of red wine in the evening helps relaxing a bit, and stress reduction lowers the production of free radicals in the body.

Most of red or black berries and grapes are rich in antioxidants.

Here is a small table. The servings are for cup (100g or 100ml). I give approx values for simplicity.

Garlic 2 000
Kale 1 700
Spinach 1 200
Steamed spinach 900
Yellow Squash 1 100
Brussels sprouts 1 000

Blueberries 2 500
Blackberries 2 000
Cranberries 1 700
Strawberries 1 500
Raspberries 1 200
Plums 900
Oranges 700
Grapes, Red 700

Dark choclate 13 000 (sic!)
Milk choclate 6500
NONI juice 1500

Wines -Cabernet Sauvgnon, Melrot 1000-2500 depending on wine

For more detailed table you may visit http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au/OracLevels.htm

4Life Riovida – a good source of antioxidants.

4Life has got a great product which may serve as an additional source of antioxidants in your daily diet. 1L of Riovida contains 22 000 µmoles TE. Which is twice as much as an average red wine. And it does not harm to your liver. Apart from big ORAC value, each dose of RIOVIDA contains transfer factors, which help spare native antioxidants, and boost and regulate immune system.

Riovida contains Transfer Factor E-XF™ plus juices mixture from açai, pomegranate, elderberry, blueberry, and purple grape. All this compounds work in synergy protecting and strengthening our body at the same time.

Sample food combinations

Below are some sample daily combinations of foods and drinks assuming you should eat 5000 ORAC units a day. You should eat more, when training or under stress.

NOTE: glass or cup is around 100ml/100g

Monday
Glass of red wine 1500
Cup of strawberries 1500
1 orange 700
2 cupsof spinach 2400

 

Tueseday
2 cups of strawberries 3000
1 cup plums 900
some dark choclate 1000

 

Wednesday
1 gram Vit C 1800
Glass of Riovida 2200
2 big potatoes 600
2 carrots 400

Thursday
1 corn 400
Glass of Riovida 2200
Glass of red wine 1500
Avocado 700

Friday (let's say it's "fruit only" day)
2 oranges 1500
1 kiwi fruit 610
bunch of red grapes 1500
1 grapefruit 400
2 cup of cherries 1200

Saturday
Glass of Riovida 2200
glass of red wine 1500
2 glasses cauliflower 700
2 glasses kidney beans 900

Sunday
2 big tomatoes 400
4 small pcs of dark choclate 1000
2 glasses plums 2000
Glass of Riovida 2200