Neutralizing Free Radicals Is Better With Dried Herbs Like Oregano or Basil than with Blueberries

    The Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity (ORAC) score ranks foods on their ability to neutralize free radicals. It's interesting to note that even blueberries, which are highly touted as being rich in antioxidants, don't come close to common herbs like basil and oregano on the ORAC scale.

    Blueberries have an ORAC score of 6,552, while dried oregano scores 200,129 and dried basil comes in at 67,553. (Fresh herbs score considerably lower -- 13,970 and 4,805 for oregano and basil respectively.)  Note the difference though as we see that blueberries with their touted strengths are below that of FRESH oregano by approximately 50%.  Of course no one is going to sit down and munch a pint basket of dried oregano, or any other herb actually, but it's the consistency of healthy eating that helps our bodies prevent or retard disease processes.  There are cumulative effects of poor health and eating habits as well as the beneficial corollary of healthy eating habits.

    It would be interesting to see if the loss of moisture from the fresh herbs in some way accentuates the essential oils ability to neutralize free radicals.