More to love about fruits & vegetables – more ORAC scores

Did you know that there is a measure of the antioxidant activity of food? That’s the effect that all the phytochemicals – antioxidants and other micro-nutrients that we’ve learned so much about in just the last few years have in our bodies. The USDA has just expanded its database of foods and their ORAC (oxygen radical absorbancy capacity) scores. You can see the scores and learn more about what it means here.
What I love about this new information is that foods that I knew in my gut were healthy, but was told in my early nutrition classes were not rich in vitamins or minerals – things like beets and apples – are. The gut is right again – only now I know why. Foods with great ORAC scores are brightly colored fruits and veggies, herbs, and yes, chocolate.
Antioxidant activity in the body is thought to prevent nearly every chronic condition that so many Americans struggle with. So again, focusing on a plant based diet, along with the magic of movement, is what the medicine doctor ordered for 2008.
Be well.