Antioxidants in and their Bioavailability in Alpha-Olenic Olive Oil®
What Is O.R.A.C.? This value shows the antioxidant power in the food/sample. It does not show the antioxidant ‘power’ of that food inside the human body.
During human cell respiration oxidants or Reactive Oxygen Species R.O.S. are created as a bi-product. Although R.O.S. in the right balance are useful to health, too many R.O.S. cause Oxidative Stress and damage cells thereby causing the onset of many chronic diseases.
Antioxidants are the molecules which stabilize the R.O.S. and ‘absorb’ them. The human body does produce antioxidants, like Glutathione, but production levels reduce as age progresses. Much research suggests a diet rich in antioxidants reduces oxidative stress, an underlying cause of many chronic diseases.
Alpha-Olenic Olive Oil® Early Harvest 2020 has an O.R.A.C. value of 1900 µmol TE/100.
An average EVOO may have around 350 µmol TE/100
What is C.A.A. or Cellular Antioxidant Activity?
The C.A.A. is a value showing the antioxidant ‘power’ inside cells. This analysis is more representative of antioxidant bioavailability
The C.A.A. value has more health significance than the O.R.A.C. because it indicates the cellular bioavailability of antioxidants of a food or supplement. In fact, the O.R.A.C. value is not recognized by some governmental regulatory bodies due to the disparity between the antioxidant content of a food and the bioavailability of those antioxidants.For example, we may eat 500mg of antioxidants in a food but only 25mg is absorbed into the cells.
What is the C.A.A. value of Alpha-Olenic Olive Oil®?
The C.A.A. value of Alpha-Olenic Olive Oil Early Harvest 2020 is 774 µmol QE/100g.
An average EVOO may have a C.A.A. value of around 15 µmol QE/100g
An antioxidant supplement made from hydroxytyrosol had a value of 677 µmol QE/100g.
The C.A.A. value of Alpha-Olenic Olive Oil Early Harvest 2020 is indeed a breakthrough in indicative bioavailability of antioxidants and other micro-nutrients in our product. This demonstrates the uniqueness of the product and the resulting advantahe of the Patented Process.
What is bioavailability? Bioavailability is the measure the portion of nutrients consumed which reach the blood and cells. For example, 500mg of calcium is eaten but only 150mg is absorbed.
Not all of the bio active compounds we eat reach our blood or cells which is where they are needed to benefit us; a portion passes through the gastrointestinal tract and is excreted.
So for example we can eat blueberries which are full of antioxidants but only a fraction of those antioxidants reach our blood and cells where they prevent oxidative damage. Bioavailability is very important when it comes to nutraceutical and medicinal foods; generally speaking, the higher bioavailability the better.
