NOVEMBER 2009

Eating whole-grain cereal for breakfast or snacking on popcorn does more than just add fiber to your diet, according to new University of Scranton research: Whole-grain cereals and snacks also contain surprisingly high levels of antioxidants called polyphenols, rivaling such well-known antioxidant sources as fruits and vegetables. In research recently presented to the American Chemical Society, scientists took a fresh look at the antioxidant content in whole-grain foods, measuring total antioxidants rather than just “free” antioxidants (those not in chemical linkage requiring digestion).

The findings were an eye-opener, perhaps helping to explain the health benefits of whole grains beyond their fiber content, according to lead researcher Joe Vinson, PhD. Wholegrain cereals scored the highest, with oat varieties containing the most antioxidants, followed by corn and wheat. Popcorn proved the champ among snacks, delivering five times the antioxidants of any other snack tested; snacks that were more heavily processed, such as tortilla chips, lost much of their original antioxidant benefits.