Free radicals can come from air pollution, processed food, contaminated water, and about 1000 other sources.
It's impossible to avoid free radicals. But you can repair and even prevent oxidation with a powerful antioxidant.
Scientists have a measure for the power of an antioxidant. They call it Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity or ORAC.
It measures the ingredient's ability to repair damage by free radicals.
The higher the number the better.
- Acai berry has an ORAC score of 102,700.
- Resveratrol (the anti-aging compound find in grapes and wine) has an ORAC score of 311,403.
- Turmeric/curcumin, one of the most powerful antioxidants on earth? ORAC score of 1,525,000.
- CoQ10, the most popular antioxidant on the shelf today? It's ORAC score is 2,004,200.
But astaxanthin takes the cake.
It's ORAC score is 2,822,200 21, which is 40% higher than CoQ10!
That means it's 40% more effective than CoQ10 at absorbing free radicals.
And scientists know that astaxanthin is 800 times more powerful than CoQ10 at what they call 'oxygen singlet quenching'.
Singlet oxygen is generated by things like UV rays in the sun.