EPICURE FARMS

 From Wikipedia:

Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a method of measuring antioxidant capacities of different foods.  It was developed by the scientistsat the National Institute on Aging in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Baltimore, Maryland, but it does not mean that this method is approved by NIH.  Recently, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) listed a database of the ORAC value in its home page (www.usda.gov) without evaluation.  A wide variety of foods have been tested using this methodology, with certain spices, berries and legumes rated very highly.  Correlation between the high antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables, and the positive impact of diets high in fruits and vegetables, is believed to play an important role in the Free-radical theory of aging. 

The ORAC value of foods is exceptionally important.   Notice in this chart that Artichokes have the highest of all ORAC values of all vegetables.  And, they are the lowest of all vegetables when it comes to calories but also very high in minerals and nutrients. 

The average person needs roughly 1,500 ORAC capacity values a day.  An artichoke heart is more than 7,000 capacity values!

Eat an Artichoke a day and live another day!

***USDA data on foods with high levels of antioxidant phytochemicals***