Major ORAC Differences Among Top Antioxidant Beverages

POTOMAC, Md., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Health and nutrition researcher Kimberly Day tested three of the top selling antioxidant drinks on the market to determine if they are delivering the benefits they claim to offer.

Ms. Day sent samples of MonaVie, Xango, and Thai-Go to Brunswick Laboratories, which is a nationally recognized for their antioxidant testing. The drinks were tested to determine their ORAC value. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is the most widely accepted method of measuring antioxidant content in food.

Results indicated that MonaVie had the lowest hydro-ORAC value (23,323), with Xango just slightly higher at 24,480. However, Thai-Go was nearly twice as high as either of the other two beverages tested, coming in at 51,939. All three drinks are comparatively priced and all are marketed as high-quality antioxidant beverages.

Antioxidants work to protect your body from free radical damage. Free radicals are highly reactive forms of oxygen that are missing an electron. When they come into contact with normal molecules, they try to steal an electron, damaging the healthy cell and its DNA.

Free radical damage has long been believed to be a risk factor of many of the chronic diseases that accompany aging-including heart disease, eye degeneration, memory loss, damage from UV light, and cancer. Antioxidants, however, deactivate free radicals, preventing them from doing damage.