USDA researchers find guava has high levels of antioxidants

Antioxidants are believed to promote good health by acting against the influence of "free radicals," which can damage cells and can contribute to developing cancer, diabetes and coronary disease.

• The super-food reputation of the above-mentioned fruits and vegetables is based largely on their prodigious antioxidant activity.
• And preliminary findings by federal researchers show that guava -- along with carambola -- belongs in their league.
• In fact, on one widely used antioxidant test, South Florida's own guayaba outscored them all except blueberries, finishing just behind the much-less-lovable kale.
• After additional testing, says lead researcher Elizabeth Baldwin, the team will submit its findings to a scientific journal for publication, a process that could take six months to a year.
• They're plant chemicals (aka phytochemicals) that have the power to neutralize free radicals -- unstable compounds generated by our bodies (and found in pollutants like cigarette smoke) that can wreak havoc with our health.
• Think of an antioxidant intervening in your body and preventing free radicals from damaging a piece of DNA that regulates cell growth, thereby nipping a potential cancer in the bud, and you can understand why nutrition and health experts are so excited about their potential.
• 'Consumers are aware of the term `antioxidant' -- they know they're important, they know that they're good for you and they know that you should eat foods that have more of them,'' says Ilene Smith, vice president and director of nutrition marketing for Ketchum, a public relations firm whose clients include California strawberry and almond growers.
• Eating Well's Cleary says two important messages are emerging from antioxidant research: First, that the health benefits of these phytochemicals are derived from whole foods, not from supplements.
• And second, that ''the synergistic effect is powerful'' -- in other words, that antioxidant activity isn't the function of a single vitamin or nutrient but of countless compounds in a fruit or vegetable working together.