The Antioxidant Content of Foods

The antioxidant content of foods is measured by means of the ORAC value (Oxygen Radical

Absorbance Capacity) developed by the National Institute of Health. The below data come from the

Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture in a study released in

November, 2007.

The highest rank foods for antioxidant content are certain spices, berries and legumes. Consumption of

high antioxidant foods is felt to play an important role in the free radical theory of aging. The below

tables rank the 247 highest foods by category and by ORAC score.

The Top 27 (seasonings not included)

Beverages

Bread

Cereals

Fruits and Fruit Juices

Seasonings

Seeds and Nuts

Special Foods

Vegetables

“In 2007, scientists with the United States Department of Agriculture published an updated list of ORAC values for 277 foods

commonly consumed by the U.S. population (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, grains, etc.).[5]

Values were reported as

micromoles of Trolox equivalents (TE, vitamin E derivative) per 100 grams both for lipid-soluble ("lipophilic" as for carotenoids) and

water-soluble ("hydrophilic" as for phenolics) antioxidant chemicals in foods, thus were a sum of lipophilic and hydrophilic values or

total ORAC. These values are considered to be more accurate than previously published ORAC numbers because lipophilic values

were being included for the first time. These data showed that all plants have variable amounts of both lipophilic and hydrophilic

phytochemicals that contribute to total ORAC.” - reprinted from Wikepedia