Serum Antioxidant Capacity Is Increased by Consumption of Strawberries, Spinach, Red Wine or Vitamin C in Elderly Women

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Interesting full text paper showing the anti-oxidant effects of various foods in

humans.

http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/128/12/2383

Serum Antioxidant Capacity Is Increased by Consumption of Strawberries, Spinach,

Red Wine or Vitamin C in Elderly Women

ABSTRACT

It is often assumed that antioxidant nutrients contribute to the protection

afforded by fruits, vegetables, and red wine

against diseases of aging. However, the effect of fruit, vegetable and red wine

consumption on the overall antioxidant

status in human is unclear. In this study we investigated the responses in serum

total antioxidant capacity following

consumption of strawberries (240 g), spinach (294 g), red wine (300 ml) or

vitamin C (1250 mg) in eight elderly women.

Total antioxidant capacity was determined using different methods: oxygen

radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay,

Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay and ferric reducing ability

(FRAP) assay. The results showed that

the total antioxidant capacity of serum determined as ORAC, TEAC and FRAP, using

the area under the curve, increased

significantly by 7-25% during the 4-h period following consumption of red wine,

strawberries, vitamin C or spinach. The

total antioxidant capacity of urine determined as ORAC increased (P < 0.05) by

9.6, 27.5, and 44.9% for strawberries,

spinach, and vitamin C, respectively, during the 24-h period following these

treatments. The plasma vitamin C level

after the strawberry drink, and the serum urate level after the strawberry and

spinach treatments, also increased

significantly. However, the increased vitamin C and urate levels could not fully

account for the increased total

antioxidant capacity in serum following the consumption of strawberries, spinach

or red wine.

We conclude that the consumption of strawberries, spinach or red wine, which are

rich in antioxidant phenolic compounds,

can increase the serum antioxidant capacity in humans. J. Nutr. 2383-2390, 1998

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Good health & long life,

Greg ,

http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au