ORAC Versus Cap-e Test (does your anti-oxidant supplement actually work)

Healthy Lifestyle Trainer
8 Principles of a Healthy Lifestyle by Pascal Durand, Trainer/Nutrition Consultant

ORAC Versus Cap-e Test

ORAC or CAP-e?

The CAP-e assay (Cell-based Antioxidant Protection in Erythrocytes) is a new method for evaluating the antioxidant potential of natural products such as:

Monavie
Goji juice,
Noni juice,
Jusur
based on the concept that many antioxidant products are only of biological relevance if they are able to penetrate living cells.

The CAP-e antioxidant protection test is the new industry standard specifically developed to investigate how bioavailable the antioxidants are to the cells.

This cell-based testing has emerged as a new technology to assess the complex biologic protective mechanisms in the cells. It is a cell-based assay for the evaluation of whether antioxidants in natural products are capable of penetrating and protecting live cells from oxidative damage (free radical damage) – it is designed to measure the antioxidant bioavailability of a product at the cellular level. Put simply, the test can tell what is going on inside the cells of our bodies after consuming the supplement.

eXfuze is one of the only companies using CAP-e as its testing method to determine the effect and penetration of the product in human body cells.

Most products that use antioxidants as a marketing claim today have used ‘chemical based’ methods to base their claims on (refer to ORAC testing below)

This was for a good reason, because until recently it was quite expensive to do batch-to-batch tests in a “cell-based system”. With the introduction of the CAP-e, “cell-based testing” is now an affordable and more superior alternative to the “chemical-based” methods.

STUDY DESIGN FOR CAP-E TESTING

The CAP-e assay is performed by allowing red blood cells to absorb antioxidants from a physiological liquid containing soluble product. All compounds not absorbed into the cell are then removed. The cell is exposed to oxidative stress. An indicator dye shows the degree of intracellular damage to the cell, in the presence versus absence of serial dilutions of the test product.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH ORAC (CHEMICAL BASED) TESTS?

Most testing in the liquid nutrition industry has focused on biochemical assays of oxidative chemical reactions in nutrient fluids. Until recently, ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) has been the standard in the liquid nutrition industry as an easy, inexpensive method to test body fluids or extracts of nutrients for antioxidant levels. However, this does not measure the abilities of the antioxidants to actually penetrate the cells, where the oxidative damage occurs. Clearly, there are more complex mechanisms of benefit at work than the limited series of chemical reactions measured by ORAC. Additionally, the solvents used in extracting a nutritional agent for ORAC testing can alter the chemical reactions being measured, giving a misleading result.

There are many superfruit products on the market touting the high levels of antioxidants that they contain. Many tout their ORAC (Oxidative Radical Absorbance Capacity) testing values. The question is are they accurate figures and more importantly, are they even relevant from a cellular standpoint?

Be aware of magic bullet. Do not be fooled by scams like most of multi level markettings who sell magic juice who can cure everything.

I believe in some supplements and healthy nutrition (whole food). Follow my 9 principles, if you need more help, feel free to contact me.

If you are far from West Palm Beach, try to hire a very knowledgeable lifestyle personal trainer.
http://www.healthylifestyletrainer.com/?s=cap-e