One Cup Pinto Beans = 15,000 ORAC units

Antioxidants are incredible!!! They make us younger from the inside out. They are little helpers that clean all the oxidants out of our body every second. I was really impressed recently to learn about all the antioxidants in brown rice.

“Rice bran contains more than seventy antioxidants, including well known aging fighters vitamin E, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), coenzyme Q-10, proanthocyanidins, and inositol hexaphosphate. It is no wonder that rural farmers in Asia, who eat brown rice because white rice is too expensive, live longer and develop fewer health problems than their city dwelling counterparts, who eat mostly white rice.”
-Secrets of Longevity: Hundreds of Ways To Live To Be 100 by Dr. Maoshing Ni

Nothing prepared me to learn how many antioxidants are in simple and cheap foods like beans. One cup of pinto beans has 15,000 ORAC antioxidant units. The new book, The O2 Diet is teaching us about the power of antioxidant foods and how to include them in our diet to get 30,000 ORAC antioxidant units per day. Awesome!

Below are some of the antioxidant levels in beans. The book also shows how you can make a green smoothie that has over 17,000 ORAC antioxidants.

It's incredible that you can find simple, cheap foods that are this powerful and healthy for us.

Vegetarian Options
Black beans (or black bean soup) 1 c= 15,600
Kidney beans 1 c= 15,600
Pinto beans 1 c= 15,000
Lentils 1 c= 14,000
Black-eyed peas 1 c= 7,300
Edamame (soybeans) 3⁄4 c= 5,400
Chickpeas 1 c= 1,700
Split peas 1 c= 1,000
Hummus 4 Tbsp= 400