So I have been taking these classes for my degree all about nutrition. They say this and they say that about this and that. Haha Now that I have that out of my system we can dig down deep int our souls and pull out some more bullshit. Just kidding on that too.
This semester I am taking Human Nutrition, and I have learned a lot of interesting things. If anyone is thinking about taking Human Nutrition just for fun, think again. It is very chemistry based. If you just want some basic nutrition info on how to live right and make good decisions health wise that will follow you long-term then take Basic Nutrition. Basic Nutrition is geared towards the average person. It is very easy to understand and there are no calculations or enzymes to remember. Heck, my entire course was open book when it came to the exams. But I have noticed that Human Nutrition is not linked to the prerequisite (basic nutrition) for the course. It’s a very different course. However, it is a useful course. It presents a much deeper understanding of digestion and where all the compounds of the banana that we just ate go and how it got there along with how it was broken down and by what it was broken down with.
Okay, now on with why you should beware the ORAC! “ORAC” is a very official, scary-sounding abbreviation for “oxygen radical absorbance capacity.” It’s an assay of how much antioxidant “fighting power” a particular food has, or so it was claimed. Apparently many food companies and supplement companies print the ORAC value of their products right on the box. I personally have never seen one, but it has been a problem for many agencies, like the USDA (more on them after the jump). The problem with printing this value is that there is not sufficient enough evidence to say that it is any better than what’s already there (another antioxidant already in the body serving a purpose) or if it is even utilized (bioavailability) by the body. It has been used to confuse people into buying a “better” product than what they may already consume (that may actually work better even if it does have a lower ORAC value).
The USDA (see, I told you we would come back) removed its list of foods with ORAC values in 2010 claiming that there is more and more evidence against the usefulness of ORAC values. They went on to say that there are a number of compounds in our food that attribute to the prevention of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes among others. You can read more about the 2010 USDA release right here.
The over all message that I want you to go tell everyone and anyone who will listen, that you need to do research on any new diet fad out there. We cannot just go and pop a pill and magically we don’t have cancer. Science just hasn’t gotten that far yet, but one day I believe they will and beyond. We should be cautious of anything out there. If you aren’t sure of what a commercial says or what a product is claiming, ask your doctor. There are also really good resources online that could help you, like WebMD, the Mayo Clinic, and even the National Institute of Health. If you would like to know more about ORAC values, you can just hop on over to Scientific America and dig a little deeper. You shouldn’t, though, since I just told you everything that you could ever want to know. Seriously. For a third time, just kidding. Until next time, beware!
Derek IRL 