Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity(ORAC)

ORAC definition:

The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) unit, ORAC value, or "ORAC score" is a method of measuring the antioxidant capacity of different foods and supplements. It was developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. While the exact relationship between the ORAC value of a food and its health benefit has not been established, it is believed that foods higher on the ORAC scale will more effectively neutralize free radicals.
Studies show that the average person gets only about 1200 ORAC units per day from 3 servings of fruits and vegetables. However 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day are required to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity.

Why ORAC:

For over 20 years scientists have demonstrated a probable link between various chronic diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and the actual aging process itself - to free radical damage. Antioxidants, on the other hand, are chemical compounds that have been shown to prevent, stop, or reduce oxidative damage. An antioxidant is any substance that reduces oxidative damage (damage due to oxygen) such as that caused by free radicals. There are hundreds of different antioxidant compounds that include various vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and phytochemical antioxidants. Since scientists don't know every antioxidant in a plant, a test was developed that indicates the total antioxidant potential. ORAC is a standardized test adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure the Total Antioxidant Potency of foods and nutritional supplements. It provides a very precise way of establishing the Free Radical destroying or neutralizing power of a particular food supplement or compound. Whole foods that score high in an antioxidant assay called ORAC are recognized to protect cells and their components from damage by oxygen radicals. The ORAC standard is necessary because thousands of antioxidants exist in foods making it impossible to measure each individual antioxidant. ORAC provides an excellent method of determining the overall antioxidant potency of foods.