High Acai ORAC Values Means Great Disease Fighting Potential

They do tests in a laboratory to measure the amount of antioxidant activity in different foods, and the result of these tests is the ORAC value.

Of course there are a lot of things that can affect the ORAC value of a particular food, such as the
Acai ORAC value.

These include moisture levels, for example. However, overall these values are accurate plus or minus five percent. The actual units for the ORAC value are micromole Trolox equivalent per 100 grams (µTE/100 g), but this is a lot to write or say, so we are going to just going to talk about ORAC units.

Basically, a high ORAC value means that the food has more antioxidant activity. Thus the acai ORAC value of 50,000 units means that there is a lot of antioxidant activity in this food. This is the measurement for the activity in 100 grams of freeze dried acai pulp. The acai berries themselves have an ORAC value of 5,500 per 100 grams. The difference is due to the fact that the freeze dried product is more concentrated since the water has been removed.

The high levels of anthocyanins in many berries gives them a dark pigment, as well as a high ORAC value. Usually a berry of a darker color will have more antioxidant activity than one of a lighter color. These anthocyanins are what protect the berry from the free radicals that occur when a lot of ultraviolet light gets through to the berry from the sun and keep the berry from getting oxidated and degenerating.

Just as a comparison, pomegranates have 3,100 units of ORAC; blueberries have 2,300 units, kale has 1,860 units, and strawberries have 1,520 units of ORAC. As you can see, the ORAC levels really do seem to be higher when the color of the food is darker.

According to an article on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) website, the freeze dried acai pulp has the highest ORAC levels of any food that has been tested so far, so it has a good chance of being able to help prevent future disease. They say that acai should be tested for disease prevention possibilities, and that they high antioxidant levels in the fruit show that it is possible that there are health benefits from eating acai.

With the high acai ORAC levels, it really does seem like it would be a good idea to try to fit a little of this fruit into your diet in some form or another. You can purchase it in capsules, as a juice, and in a dried format. Look into the different capsules though since some are better than others. It is always a good idea to look for organic products that are sustainably produced since these are more likely to have the best nutritional value.