ORAC, or oxygen radical absorbance capacity, was originally a scientific scoring method used by the USDA to estimate the overall antioxidant potential of certain foods and beverages (mainly fruits and veggies). In theory, the higher the ORAC score, the higher the antioxidant potential.
Some supplement companies jumped on this idea and started providing their own ORAC scores or other antioxidant measurements in an effort to impress consumers. But the USDA recently abandoned this system when it couldn’t find a correlation between ORAC scores and efficacy (remember what I said earlier about being impressed not by a test result but rather by whether the supplement makes a difference?).
In addition, there are absolutely no credible guidelines for how many ORAC units you need daily. A food or beverage with a high ORAC or antioxidant value is not necessarily healthier because in studies these superfoods have not been found to be clinically healthier than the boring “nonsuper” foods.
Spinach and alfalfa sprouts have lower ORAC values than blueberries and strawberries. Who cares? All of this stuff is healthy. Do not allow yourself to make purchasing decisions based on an ORAC or antioxidant score, or based on any of the many scoring systems that will no doubt replace these in the future. Human research and quality control should be your guide.
