How to Reach the Antioxidant RDA

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DESCRIPTION: Even nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day may not reach the minimum recommended intake of antioxidants if one doesn't make the right choices.
This is that laser study I talked about: Antioxidant Level Dynamics (nutritionfacts.org/video/antio....
What do I mean by daily minimum of antioxidants? You must have missed my last video, Minimum Recommended Daily Allowance of Antioxidants (nutritionfacts.org/video/minim....
I used a similar technique to illustrate the potent antioxidant power of spices. See Antioxidants in a Pinch (nutritionfacts.org/video/antio....
All fruits and veggies aren't the same. I make this point in different ways in videos like Which Fruit Fights Cancer Better? (nutritionfacts.org/video/which...) and Anti-Inflammatory Antioxidants (nutritionfacts.org/video/anti-....
I have a series of videos on which foods have the most antioxidants. See Antioxidant Content of 3,139 Foods (nutritionfacts.org/video/antio...) and Antioxidant Power of Plant Foods Versus Animal Foods (nutritionfacts.org/video/antio.... Note these are measured based on test tube tests. There are more sophisticated ways to measure antioxidant activity. See Anti Up on the Veggies (nutritionfacts.org/video/anti-....
What's the cheapest common source of whole food antioxidants? See Superfood Bargains (nutritionfacts.org/video/super...) for a dollar per dollar comparison. What's the cheapest uncommon source? See Dragon's Blood (nutritionfacts.org/video/drago....
Are there diminishing returns to getting too many antioxidants? See Maxing Out on Antioxidants (nutritionfacts.org/video/maxin....
So if we have that bowl of berries in the morning to meet our minimum daily antioxidant needs can we just call it a day?. Hint: the title of my next video is: Antioxidant Rich Foods With Every Meal (nutritionfacts.org/video/antio....
Have a question for Dr. Greger about this video? Leave it in the comment section at nutritionfacts.org/video/how-t... and he'll try to answer it!
Image Credit: Anthro_aya, Fritzmb, and Cogdogblog via flickr; and Brian Arthur, Sanjay Acharya, and Henna via Wikimedia.
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[@ElectricityTaster]

Sippin' on hibiscus, all day long.

[@2012201220122012YEAH]

Mind-blowing and life-changing

[@angelania]

Thank you! Yes, I'll drink my hibiscus tea after my lunch)) and I bought some dates too!

[@TheRagingUnprofessional]

Thank you for this video.

[@Ninjahbutter]

Thanks for all these great videos. You're doing us all a good sevice.

[@Ryansarcade9]

Awesome! Love everything about this video, the information, the practical advie to be taken.

[@fistoffries]

Great video!

[@OldVegan]

Another excellent video. Thank you.

[@RawLove2012]

Great video. Thank you :)

[@damonstoudamiree]

Stupendo video!

[@organicsuperman]

Great video.

[@AndrewPawley11]

I love this channel!

[@danielmanahan692]

I think it is important to have some kind of chart for common fruits and veggies that are relatively inexpensive. if a food costs 1/10th of the price but has half the anti oxidants it is worth it, just because it will be consumed more regularly. Which beans for example are almost as good but cost way less? blue berries are too expensive. what about raisins?

[@neilmon11203]

Look at Dr Fuhrman's ANDI scoring guide. Google it and buy it. It isn't perfect, but it's a guide. For beans, look at various red and black beans - but try to eat from a broad color palette. If you have concerns, look at Dr Greger's video here watch?v=N0QbVYoKe5g for an antioxidant backup plan.

[@IResonateWithU]

***** I buy a huge bag of frozen mixed berries and it works great because its what makes the smoothie frosty and less watery. If I had to buy those things fresh it would never happen....way too expensive!

[@jacobnunya808]

antioxidants are not the only important thing, probably not even the most important.

[@botzer8817]

I agree, a chart of antioxidants/price would be very useful.

[@nickmeale1957]

Yes, I'm not getting enough antioxidants. I'm figuring this out now

[@MedizinCannabis]

maybe a weird question but can one overdose on antioxidants? For example if one consumes a bunch of extracts of plants high in antioxidants. Would highly appreciate an answer to this question

[@lamajigmeg]

Hey man, I love your videos and I share them on my FaceBook page so please keep 'em coming :-)

[@ivant9781]

What do you think of hydrogen water? it's considered powerful antioxidant water.

[@TheAndyVegan]

Blueberries are probably, if not, the most rich source of antioxidants. Powerful food!

[@Enceos]

Nah, Amla berries in any form: fresh, dried, juice, powder.

[@luigi2496]

Enceos the highest and easiest accesible would be cranberries

[@thebody4746]

I just gobble Dragon's Blood.

[@Iris-fp4uk]

spices?

[@SolitaryReaper666]

Fresh fruits and veggies FTW!!

[@deela1058]

One recent concern has been the presence of high levels of aluminum in hibiscus tea and for other concerns some black regular tea as well. Dr G pls coment on concerns of hibiscus tea especially as I wish to drink extra amounts as an antioxdant beverage.

[@jesseeriehl2503]

Is there a way to calculate how many antioxidants you're getting in a day?

[@Zebus112]

What is maximum amount of antioxidants we can safely eat? I read article which says that too much will cause damage. I get 60k per day.

[@Andrew-ug2cy]

Lol

[@Goldiemagic]

I love you so much!!! You make me laugh so hard I am " hollerin" on most of your videos. Thank you for all the good info. I am aging beautifully and easily!!!!!!!!!

[@thebody4746]

How do you calculate the units per gram of food?

[@Abc-qs8ir]

Anti oxidants should now become mainstream with info available on all food packaging, similar to the ‘5 a day’ movement for veggies,

[@kashvinwarmabaskaran4120]

How much antioxidant is in 1 table spoon of matcha powder. What's the percentage of RDA it meets? You're awesome, thanks

[@betsycosmos7786]

Is there a chart somewhere that shows the antioxidant quantities in various amounts of foods? It could be helpful when planning our meals.

[@NutritionFactsOrg]

Hi, Betsy Cosmos! It's not the most user-friendly resource, but there is this document until something better is available: naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/43336/pdf Meanwhile, you can find everything on this site related to antioxidants here: nutritionfacts.org/topics/antioxidants/ I hope that helps! -Christine Kestner, MS, CNS, LDN, NutritionFacts.org Health Support Volunteer

[@SJDphotographic]

Hello, Dr Gregor, I was meaning to ask, how many antioxidants are in sweet potatoes when steamed? I can't find the results anywhere. Thanks again for your hard work. Sebastian

[@NutritionFactsOrg]

Hi, Sebastian DeFreitas! The reason you can't find an answer may be that total antioxidant capacity varies a lot depending on the type of sweet potato and how it is prepared. Your best bet may be purple-fleshed sweet potatoes either raw or boiled with skin. More on that here: nutritionfacts.org/video/the-best-way-to-cook-sweet-potatoes/ I hope that helps! -Christine Kestner, MS, CNS, LDN, NutritionFacts.org Health Support Volunteer

[@tdreamgmail]

I throw blueberries into my oats in the morning, does the hot water destroy some of the anitoxidants? Should I eat them separately and fresh?

[@011azr]

Is black tea different from green tea? I thought they're all from the same vegetables, just different manufacturing later :/. Does that influence the antioxidant contained inside them?

[@siegfriedfurtwanglerknappe6188]

011azr He did a video on different kinds of tea a while ago. Your best bet is to watch that. As far as I can remember green tea and black tea are both great sources of anti-oxidants.

[@011azr]

Siegfried Furtwängler Knappertsbusch I just did quick research and found out that green tea is much better. Even though green tea and black tea derives from the same thing, the processing later make black tea only have about 10% of the antioxidant that green tea have. Oolong tea is about 30% of green tea. Therefore your best bet is to consume green tea. I understand though why people prefer black tea, it looks more 'tea' than green tea which doesn't look dark enough to look like tea (except if you put way too much of that green tea in the water).

[@madhuhappy]

Can we substitute fresh blueberries with dried blueberries as we don’t get them here Where I stay

[@rabity]

fresh 7 nanas, 8 dates, 1 cup strwber., 3/4 cup mango, and 1 cup apple juice(for taste and liquid purposes because its pasteurized unfortunately :/) for breakfast.

[@richardmaier28]

Yes, we have no bananas

[@catvalentine4317]

I drink green tea every day, at least 2 bananas and 2 apples. Also, I have 1 gramm of moringa. Is that enough for a woman?

[@valnaples]

Rainbow...if AT ALL...try to substitute BLUEBERRIES for the bananas...doc even said that blueberries are THE BOMB...even frozen would be BETTER than bananas from what I saw in this video...I also drink green tea at least twice a day...you go girl!

[@daretodream25]

Eating 2 bananas a day should cut your stroke risk.. bananas are rich in potassium. Make sure you are drinking 8 glasses of water everyday. And eat wild frozen blueberries and salads for fiber everyday. A few walnuts every day should also help

[@valnaples]

joy m bananas are good for potassium but there are loads of foods that are better sources...leafy greens for one...there's a neat website called worldshealthiestfoods dot com and they show a chart of potassium rich foods from excellent to fair. (^_^)

[@YFSFitgamer]

no add some kidney beans on dinner time then u r gud

[@blackoutpete2489]

Earned a subscribe for all these videos but try and add abit of humour IMO. Great job either way

[@lapatria100]

NANAS AND DATES ALL THE WAY!!

[@samuelbarrett5701]

Are you using ORAC units when you say 'antioxidant units' because your calculations don't align very well with your source material. Mmol/100g is a lot different then, say, 9000 'antioxidant units' in blueberries. Could you help your viewers, like myself, convert mmol to these 'antioxidant units' you keep talking about because if we're not able to do that then the 3100 foods list isn't going to help us much in calculating our intake if antioxidants.

[@NutritionFactsOrg]

Hi, Samuel Barrett! The study cited above, which you can access here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07315724.2007.10719599?casa_token=ic0OdpjsJp8AAAAA:kMzPiGBGFYb8LlNA0kqFjOqYioMzWAgdRSLSlYvmpNYNpBSc2HFTjDad5lUDCgDOlcNQpIskLBjUfA uses both ORAC units and mmol Trolox Equivalents (TE). The caption to Figure 7 on page 179 of the article explains it like this: "Estimated antioxidant intake required (mmol/day) to prevent postprandial oxidative stress relative to energy intake (kcal). Relationship calculated as follows: Y = ((EI * DAUC)/MAUC) * IENU = ((EI*0.99/57)*0.25 EI * 0.00461 where: Y = Antioxidant intake (mmol TE/day based upon ORAC(FL)); EI = Energy Intake, kcal; MAUC = Mean Area Under Curve (µmol TE/L h) per dose of fruit or berry in mmol Trolox Equivalents (TE) for 13 different foods tested in 6 clinical trials; DAUC = Decline in plasma AUC per kcal energy consumed in the absence of dietary antioxidants (0.99 µmol TE/L h); and IENU = Inefficiency in utilization of dietary energy (Assumed to be 25%)." As you can see, it is not a simple conversion of units. The point is not so much about calculating your intake of antioxidants as it is focusing on the foods that deliver the most "bang for the buck." As the video shows, if you eat the right foods, and that's where the list comes in, you will get enough. You can find everything on our site related to antioxidants here: nutritionfacts.org/topics/antioxidants/ I hope that helps! -Christine Kestner, MS, CNS, LDN, NutritionFacts.org Health Support Volunteer

[@garynorton7999]

I'm superman veganman xx📰

[@dealstogo2649]

Coffee has lots of anti-oxidants also.

[@gstrdms]

So basically eat 10 bananas at least per day. Easy, i do that in one meal.

[@organicsuperman]

Everyone should eat well but on top of that partake in regular JUICING of vegetables.

[@AstralS7orm]

Whole are usually better than juiced. Throwing away all that good fibre is wasteful.

[@organicsuperman]

AstralStorm Well yes and no. Juicing should be ONTOP of a well balanced diet with lots of fibre. It's the best way to increase so many important nutritional components essential for the human body. I've certainly noticed a huge difference since doing it many years ago. Prior to I was eating a plant based wholefoods diet but juicing takes it up another level in my experience. Try it. Drink 1 pint of fresh preferably organic juice 5 days week for three months.

[@valnaples]

I don't juice every day but when I do juice carrots, the pulp is easily used later in the day on dark leafy salad. And I would guess that the pulp from any greens can also be re-purposed in such a way. Just a suggestion.

[@organicsuperman]

valnaples Yes. You can do lots with the pulp. Even discarded pulp goes to fuel my vegetable garden.

[@justappearances]

show me the scientific article that demonstrates meat consumption is unhealthy, I can show dozens that show evidence that quality meat, like grass fed lamb is highly beneficial, meats are not made the same, stop misleading people with your corrupted close-minded attitude. look at the diet in Iceland, they consume more red meat on a daily basis than any other country and we all know that Iceland is the world's healthiest nation. of course a burger meat which was cooked on an easily oxidative vegetable oil is extremely dangerous for health, but a nice wild pig or grass fed lamb cooked on a coconut oil is very healthy and nutritious, educate yourself first before teaching others.

[@danny.webdev]

+iwbtssothy this made me laugh uncontrollably. good one

[@ldjt6184]

+Adam's Apple lol, neither can I.

[@mikecollins5261]

Oh please. Do some research. People in Iceland live longer mainly because of genetics. And they don’t eat a lot of red meat. They do eat a lot of fish. But again, it’s genetics.

[@SvetlanaTulasi]

iwbtssothy any animal product contains tons of cholesterol that is extremely damaging to human body, poor omega 6-3 proportion, various kinds of hormones and other bad stuff even coming from the lean, grass-fed, wild raised etc animals. There is of course some good stuff in meat like protein, calcium, iron and zinc that they tell us about, but if you educate yourself enough you’ll find the bad stuff in it does much more damage to your body, to your long term health, to the environment and of course it requires violent deaths of countless innocent animals.

[@botzer8817]

Yeah show me the studies about meat being "highly beneficial". Meat is not beneficial for anyone, but detrimental. Fed grass cow and wild pork (which represents less than 5% of the consumption) is less detrimental, but certainly not beneficial.