Next generation antioxidant test puts blueberry at number one

Next generation antioxidant test puts blueberry at number one - NutraIngredients.com
2007.11.19
"A new study using the cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) assay, dubbed the 'next step' in quantifying antioxidant activity, has added to reports of blueberry's antioxidant prowess...The test moves the quantification of antioxidant activity from the test tube to measuring bioactivity inside cells, and marks an advance in the understanding and activity of antioxidants... blueberry topped the CAA rankings, followed by cranberry, apple, red grape, and finally green grape...A test of select phytochemicals, the researchers reported that quercetin had the highest CAA value, followed by kaempferol, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), myricetin, and luteolin, respectively..."The CAA assay is a more biologically relevant method than the popular chemistry antioxidant activity assays because it accounts for some aspects of uptake, metabolism, and location of antioxidant compounds within cells," wrote Wolfe and Liu...Previously, the antioxidant activity of selected compounds has been measured using a range of lab-based assays, including the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) assay, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC)..."How useful the assay will be in predicting in vivo uptake and availability of dietary antioxidants remains to be determined with further research."... "

But why might all these tests be mostly useless? Because an increase in dietary antioxidants can sometimes come at the cost of a decrease in endogenous antioxidants. The end result? You age faster. Seems contradictory right? Not if you factor in the innate feedback system within mammals. What we need to understand is which antioxidants also come with the added chemistry to fight cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and so on. Cocoa is not capable of doing so many wonderful things to our health merely because it fights free radicals. Instead it regulates nitric oxide, amongst other things. Take away that and other physiologic changes that chocolate causes, and keep its antioxidant ability and there's little to get excited about. I hope researchers in the field of antioxidant research begin to develop a more comprehensive view of antioxidants, rather than just look at free radicals and the ability to prevent the damage from them via diet. Turmeric and cocoa are prime candidates to explore the more complex nature of antioxidants - that they can fundamentally alter a variety of processes in mammalian physiology that can have dramatic effects on health and longevity.

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