High ORAC Foods
For Fighting Free Radicals

Here are ORAC values for some common foods and for BarleyLife:

ORAC value (umol TE/5g) BarleyLife has about 1275 ORAC units per 5g (about 1 Tbsp). Broccoli has a value of 45, so 150 g (about 1.5 cups) would have about 30x45=1350 ORAC units. So 1 T of BarleyLife is equivalent to about almost 1.5 cups of broccoli.

Background - For over 20 years scientists have demonstrated a probable link between various chronic diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and the actual aging process itself - to free radical damage. Antioxidants, on the other hand, are chemical compounds that have been shown to prevent, stop, or reduce oxidative damage.

What is an antioxidant? An antioxidant is any substance that reduces oxidative damage (damage due to oxygen) such as that caused by free radicals. There are hundreds of different antioxidant compounds that include various vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and phytochemical antioxidants. Since scientists don't know every antioxidant in a plant, a test was developed that indicates the total antioxidant potential.

What is ORAC? ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a standardized test adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure the total antioxidant potency of foods and nutritional supplements. It provides a very precise way of establishing the free radical destroying or neutralizing power of a particular food supplement or compound. High-ORAC foods are those that score high in an antioxidant ORAC test called ORAC. They are recognized to protect cells and their components from damage by oxygen radicals.

The ORAC measurement can be seen as a measure of how well a particular food/nutrient helps your body fight diseases like cancer and heart disease. The higher the ORAC value per equivalent weight of food the more antioxidant power it has. Antioxidants, as with all nutrients, are more effective in their whole food form and BarleyLife is a whole food. Break high ORAC foods down into individual components and you will loose some of the antioxidant and other benefits.

Studies show that the average person gets only about 1200 ORAC units per day from 3 servings of fruits and vegetables. However 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day are required to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity. The good news is that each tablespoon of BarleyLife powder contains about 1275 ORAC units! Two tablespoons a day about 2550, three tablespoons 3825! Add your daily fruits and veggies and you are at the top of the recommended intake of antioxidants. (Not to mention all the other tremendous nutrients and benefits of the barley juice.)

Scientists have determined that whole plant foods high in antioxidants are more effective for good health than isolated antioxidant supplements. BarleyLife's antioxidant potency is naturally occurring, not artificially inflated through the addition of isolated antioxidants.

Numerous government and private agencies are now recommending 5-9 servings of vegetables and fruit per day. Why? The most effective way of getting these powerful antioxidants into the body is from whole, unprocessed, high ORAC foods, especially certain plants.

What antioxidants are known to be in BarleyLife? BarleyLife contains numerous substances known to be antioxidants. Some of the largest contributors would be beta-carotene, chlorophyll, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, lutonarin (7-O-GIO), saponarin (7-O-GIV), polyphenol oxidase, vitamin E, phosphorus, and zinc. All of these occur naturally in BarleyLife.

BarleyLife vs Antioxidant Supplements. A popular antioxidant supplement on the market today, Product X, is advertised as very powerful. So lets compare X to BarleyLife. The ORAC number for X is 3003 TE per gram. Wow! Sounds powerful, right? However 1 gram of X per day would require 17 60mg capsules costing $6.66. 4 of the product X capsules is a more likely daily dose providing 720 ORAC units at a cost of at least $1.57. BarleyLife however requires only 2.8 grams, or about 1/2 tablespoon of powder for 720 ORAC units at a cost of less than 40 cents! And BarleyLife is much more than an antioxidant!

So, as the table above shows, even high ORAC foods are no match nutritionally for BarleyLife and cost-wise some of the top antioxidant supplements don't even offer the same value.