Antioxidants absorbed at different rates, levels

New details about the antioxidant power of more than a half-dozen fruits have emerged from studies led by an antioxidants expert based at the ARS Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Ark. (Journal of the American College of Nutrition, volume 26, pages 170 to 181).

Antioxidants — color-imparting compounds in fruits and veggies — are thought to stall aging, ward off disease and reduce the harmful effects of molecules known as oxygen free radicals.

Researchers measured blood (plasma) antioxidant capacity, or AOC, of volunteers shortly after these healthy women, age 18 to 70, had eaten blueberries, cherries or dried plums, or had downed 10.6 ounces of dried-plum juice. Analysis of the samples confirmed that antioxidants in some foods apparently are easier to absorb and use than others. Dried plums, for instance, did not raise volunteers' plasma AOC levels, perhaps because one of plums' most plentiful antioxidants—chlorogenic acid—isn't readily absorbed, or is readily degraded, by our bodies.

Though grapes and kiwi both led to noticeable spikes in plasma AOC, scientists haven't yet pinpointed which antioxidants were responsible for the increases.

Further research may help establish national guidelines that indicate the kinds and amounts of antioxidants we need for optimal health.

— Reprinted from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's "Food and Nutrition Briefs," July 2007

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