ORAC – My Opinion
June 25, 2007 by Dr. Marcus Ettinger
Filed under Dr. Ettinger's Thoughts, Frequently Asked Questions, Goji (Lycium barbarum), Noni (Morinda citrifolia)
Question: I am thinking of switching from Noni, which I order all the time from you, to Goji which appears to be higher on the ORAC scale. What do you think?
Answer: Gregory,
ORAC, in my opinion, is way overrated and is more a marketing tool than anything else. I have never paid it much attention when I pick a product or recommend a particular supplement or product.
ORAC is about antioxidant potential. Without getting into a big physiology and bio-chemistry lecture, I’ll make it simple. We need a variety of antioxidants. Antioxidant like vitamin E, selenium, and vitamin C work via different pathways and handle free radicals differently. If you rely on just one product it can create potential problems in the future.
My recommendation is to switch- it-up. Try noni for a while, than goji, than acai, and than mangosteen. All of them are potent antioxidants, all of them are unique, all of them are fantastic, and all of them possess a different chemical make-up. Saying one is better than another is like saying a strawberry is better than a cherry. Each may be better in one very specific area but as a whole they are pretty equal as are most fruits and vegetables.
I hope this helps to clear things up.
Sincerely,
Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc.
Comments
3 Responses to “ORAC – My Opinion”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] Rick, Here you go. If you have additional questions please feel free to e-mail me. 1. What are the respective ORAC values of each juice you products. http://www.caoh.com/liquid-vitamin-blog/?p=201 2. What lab do you use for testing and do you have any reproducible letters from this lab to show potential customers? Are testing is done by the contract laboratory we use to produce are juices. The certificates of analysis have our formulas on them and all of the ingredients. It would be impossible for me to block out the ingredients and formula and still present a viable document. Up coming GMP standards require us to have a C.A. for each batch we do. All of our juices are presently going through the steps to receiver USDA organic certification. This should be complete within, I hope, the next 60-90 days. 3. What is flash pasteurization and does it degrade some of the active compounds in the juices? Flash pasteurization is a “mandatory process.” We cannot sell raw juice. F.P. is the least invasive method of preservation and I feel confident that it posses negligible harmful effect to the juice. Sincerely, Dr. E [...]
[...] http://www.caoh.com/liquid-vitamin-blog/?p=201 [...]
[...] ORAC – My Opinion [...]