Study says coffee high in antioxidants

Coffee provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released on Sunday.

However, too much coffee can make people jittery and even raise cholesterol levels, so food experts stress moderation. The findings came from Joe A Vinson, chemistry professor at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania.

Antioxidants, which are thought to help battle cancer and provide other health benefits, are abundant in grains, tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables. “People are getting the most antioxidants from beverages, as opposed to what you might think,” Vinson said in a telephone interview.

Vinson’s research concluded that the average adult consumes 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas (76 milligrams), dry beans (72 milligrams) and corn (48 milligrams). This does not mean coffee is a substitute for fruit and vegetables.

“Unfortunately, consumers are still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, which are better from an overall nutritional point of view due to their higher content of vitamins, minerals and fiber,” Vinson said. Dates, cranberries and red grapes are among the leading fruit sources of antioxidants, he said, reports Daily Times.

According to News-Medical, Vinson, who presented his findings to a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, says this does not mean that coffee was necessarily the best source of antioxidants.

But unfortunately, the average American is still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, which are better from an overall nutritional point of view, due to their higher content of vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Apparently dates, cranberries and red grapes have high concentrations of antioxidants, but Americans do not eat much of these foods.