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Healthy Vegetables

Antioxidant Levels of Different Vegetables

It is well known that consuming Vegetables everyday has a number of positive health benefits. Researchers have highlighted the health benefits of a number of different Vegetables and it can sometimes be difficult for the consumer to know exactly which Vegetables provide the best health benefits.

Comparing one Vegetable against another can be difficult as each vegetables contains different levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that all benefit health in variety of ways. One of the best and easiest ways to compare the health benefits of different vegetables is by looking at their antioxidant capacity - this is measured in Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). In simple terms the higher the ORAC level the greater the level of antioxidant activity in the vegetable.

It is now widely recommended that individuals gain around 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day from a variety of food sources including: fruits, vegetable, nuts, seeds and legumes. You will see from the table below that many vegetables provide a great source of antioxidants.

The antioxidant capacity was measured per 100g of vegetables, in some cases raw and in some cases cooked, boiled, or microwaved.