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Knowing ORAC and Anti-oxidant potential of Curcumin

A lot is being talked about on various social media platforms about the ORAC. But what is ORAC? How many people are aware of this? ORAC, Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity assay, is a method developed by the scientist at the National Institute of Health (NIH) to quantify the antioxidant capacity of food in a laboratory set-up. Though a lot of groundwork is yet to be required to establish the correlation between the ORAC value of foods and their health benefits, it is considered to be significant by some of the experts as a measure of anti-oxidant effectiveness. It is said higher the ORAC value, high will be the anti-oxidant capacity and hence more free radicals are cleared out of our body.

We all are aware of Oxidative stress. It is nothing but an imbalance between the production and elimination of free radicals or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) that results in damage to cells and tissues. This causes the decline of immune power and several metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders. Free radicals are produced in small quantities naturally in our

body, as a part of metabolic reactions. But certain conditions like Diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, aging, certain pollutants, and other external factors have wreaked havoc and free radicals are produced in an uncontrolled manner. Hence for maintaining good health and recovering this damage, we require keeping these free radicals under control. One way of achieving this is by incorporating foods and supplements with higher ORAC values.

So here starts a trail for foods with higher ORAC. Most of the time diet rich in fruits and vegetables delivers you a considerable amount of anti-oxidants but how many of us are consuming the relevant portion that will meet our needs. The “5, a day” campaign in developed countries was an initiative from the government to include at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables into the daily diet. But the fact is that only a few of the people are meeting the target of 5 a day and hence consuming very fewer ORAC units.

 Hence efforts are required to integrate more and more intake of anti-oxidant-rich foods regularly in our diet. Along with fruits, vegetables, and berries, there are certain spices which are having a good level of anti-oxidants. TURMERIC, the golden spice is one such component that possesses significantly higher ORAC value and anti-oxidant action. 

So how strong is the anti-oxidant capacity of curcumin? As per the obtained data, the ORAC score of Turmeric is 159277 μmol TE/100g and that of pure high-quality Curcumin is 15,00,000 μmol TE/100g. Curcumin, with its high ORAC values, exhibits considerable anti-oxidant potential. It eliminates the highly harmful oxygen reactive species like nitric oxide and super-oxides and protects our cells from oxidative damage. It also helps to maintain the adequate functioning of the immune cells against the damage initiated by these free radicals and boosts your immunity to fight against several types of viral infections.

The ORAC values are calculated per 100 gm of food and it is not easy to consume so much

spices or any other herbs. But incorporating them wisely and in appropriate amounts can give you promising benefits.

As we all know today, “A Strong immune system is the base of health and longevity”, so keeping it healthy by providing required anti-oxidant coverage is important to achieve a healthy life. So it is not late yet, just nurture your immune system in the right way by incorporating high ORAC foods in your daily diet.

 

References

Ø  USDA Database for the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of selected Foods; S. Bhagwat, D.B.Haytowitz, and J.M.Holden;  Nutrient Data Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, MD 20705. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Articles/AICR07_ORAC.pdf

Ø  Nature Identical Curcumin; Roopesh Jain; Int J Appl Basic Med Res. 2013 Jul-Dec; 3(2): 134; doi: 10.4103/2229-516X.117104

Ø  Cardioprotective and other beneficial effects of some Indian medicinal plants; Jai Ashish Tilak-Jain and Thomas Paul Asir Devasagayam