Popcorn and cereals as rich in antioxidants as fruit and vegetables

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By Richard Alleyne
Wednesday August 19 2009
Snack foods like popcorn and many popular breakfast cereals contain the same amount of healthy antioxidants as fruit and vegetables, claim researchers.
Fruit and vegetables — and foods such as chocolate, wine, coffee, and tea — have become renowned for their role in reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer because they contain the health-giving substances known as polyphenols.
Until now, however, no one knew that commercial snack foods and hot and cold whole grain cereals were also a great source for the compounds.
Polyphenols are a group of chemicals found in many fruits, vegetables, and other plants, such as berries, walnuts, olives, tea leaves and grapes.
Known as antioxidants, they remove free radicals from the body. Free radicals are chemicals that have the potential to cause damage to cells and tissues in the body.
Polyphenols have up to 10 times the antioxidant effect as vitamins C and E.
It is known that whole grain foods are good for you but it was always thought that it was the fibre in them that had the health benefits.
Now scientists are reassessing their effectiveness and think it might be the polyphenols that are active health-giving ingredient.
The US chemist Dr Joe Vinson, who made the discovery, said: "We really were surprised by the levels of polyphenols we found in popcorn. I guess its because it's not processed. You get all the wonderful ingredients of the corn undiluted and protected by the skin.
"In my opinion it's a good health food."
He said that a cup of popcorn contained around as many polyphenols as an apple.
He said cereals such as granola were also good.
“Early researchers thought the fibre was the active ingredient for these benefits in whole grains, the reason why they may reduce the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease,” said Dr Joe Vinson, from University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, who headed the new study.
“But recently, polyphenols emerged as potentially more important. We found that whole grain products have comparable antioxidants per gram to fruits and vegetables.”
The whole grain cereal with the most antioxidants are made with wheat, with corn, oats and then rice according to Dr Vinson.
He also noted that raisin bran has the highest amount of antioxidants per serving, primarily due to the raisins.
Among the salty snacks, popcorn has the most antioxidants per gram, according to the research revealed at the American Chemical Society annual conference.
The researchers, who used a technique called alkaline hydrolysis to calculate the amount of antioxidants, said the findings are significant as so much of our diet is dominated by whole grains and snacks.
Their findings however come just a week after researchers found cinema popcorn was a health threat to children as it contained so much salt.
A large bag was found to have double the safe daily limit and could contribute to high blood pressure in later life.