New research on which veggies are best for you
I noticed a new study over the weekend that might be of interest to ND users. French researchers have started a project that aims to measure and rank the amount of polyphenols in commonly eaten foods. Polyphenols are a huge family of antioxidant nutrients that we have only begun to identify. More potent than antioxidant vitamins such as C and E, polyphenols are found in many fruits and vegetables. They're also abundant in wine, coffee, tea, and chocolate, a happy discovery that transformed some of my favorite vices into health foods!
Polyphenols may provide other benefits in addition to fighting free radicals: Scientists believe that a diet high in polyphenols (read: fruits and vegetables) confers protection against cancer, heart disease, and aging. (For more on supplements vs. foods as nutrient sources, see this post and the discussion thread following.)
In the first phase of the project, they evaluated polyphenol activity of four dozen different fruits and vegetables and more than 80 varieties of tea.
Among the fruits, strawberries, lychees, and grapes topped the list in polyphenol content. The top vegetables included artichokes, parsley, and (my personal favorite) Brussels sprouts. The researchers also used data on typical buying and eating habits to estimate that apples and potatoes are the chief dietary sources of polyphenols. (We should note that this research was done on the fruits and vegetables available in France and analyzed according to the typical eating patterns of the French.)
Are polyphenols listed on ND?
To anticipate the next question, polyphenols are not currently included in the USDA food composition database, and therefore don't appear in NutritionData's analysis reports. The USDA has recently added several new phytonutrients to its database, such as lycopene and lutein. Perhaps polyphenols will also be added at some future date, although it's hard to imagine how we could ever expand the database fast enough to keep up with all the newly identified nutrient fractions. In the meantime, we can use information from studies like this one from France to supplement our understanding about which foods make the most nutritious choices.
Clearly, knowing how much vitamin C or beta-carotene a food contains tells us only a little about that food's capacity to fight free radicals. Last week I wrote about a new study showing that growing fruit organically may increase its antioxidant activity. As I pointed out in my post, the researchers in this particular study wisely chose to measure the ability of the fruit to neutralize free radicals rather than the amounts of various antioxidant nutrients it contained. As we've come to recognize, it's impossible for us to even name all the different antioxidant nutrients in a food, much less measure them. There are a couple of other systems that measure and rank antioxidant activity, such as ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) and TAC (total antioxidant capacity). Here's a list of top-rated foods according to the TAC analysis.
Although "Top Ten" lists are fun, I don't think we should obsess over what the ten "best" foods are. Instead, we can translate all of this interesting research into a fairly simple take-home lesson. It might not be sensational enough to get me on Oprah, but it's going to improve your diet and health:
Eat (lots) more fresh fruits and vegetables; the more variety, the better. As always, your comments are welcome!
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Posted by: Terry | Apr 19, 2009 1:15:52 AM
I have written a blog on a similar topic. Especially if you juice this wou;d be very beneficial.
http://www.juicingshack.com/blog/2009/01/best-vegetables-for-juicing.html
Posted by: Lucian Hojda | Apr 23, 2008 9:36:37 PM
Hey everybody!
I was very interested in looking into all the antioxydants and all the benefits of some fruits and i found a specific fruit, Acai Berry, that contains more antioxydants than any other food in the world. Right now, a company named Monavie is working with a special blend based on the acai berry mainly!
to find more information about the Monavie product and opportunity, go to :
www.mymonavie.com/lucian
Posted by: Ron Self | Oct 12, 2007 12:34:02 PM
The link to www.naturalantioxidants.org/best_food_sources.html has been replaced by www.naturalantioxidants.org/Total_Antioxidants.html, where the list of foods has been greatly extended.
Posted by: Ron Self | Apr 24, 2007 2:57:48 PM
Monica,
Thank you for posting a link to naturalantioxidants.org. This is a new site and your directed visitors made a big impact on the site statistics for a few days! I am hoping to expand the site to provide an independent view of food-based antioxidants and their role in human well-being. It seems the jump from foods rich in antioxidants are therapeutic, to the scientific evidence that it is antioxidants (or better still a named antioxidant) that are/(is) responsible, is very large. Currently, the large increase in plasma total antioxidant capacity on eating antioxidant-rich foods seems to be attributed to the increase in plasma uric acid content, a known potent antioxidant. I am seeking permission to include sources that are exploring this aspect, which has been researched for several years now, at least since 2001.
Best wishes,
Ron Self
