Coffee top antioxidant source for Americans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Europeans have red wine, Asians have
green tea but Americans have their own source of antioxidants
– coffee, researchers reported on Sunday.

Americans drink plenty of coffee, which is high in
antioxidants, compounds such as vitamins that fight damage to
cells and to DNA, the study found.

But Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables,
the sources of antioxidants as well as fiber and other
nutrients that dietitians, scientists and doctors recommend,
said Joe Vinson of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

Vinson and colleagues studied the antioxidant content of
more than 100 different food items, including vegetables,
fruits, nuts, spices, oils and common drinks.

They also examined a U.S. Department of Agriculture
database on how much Americans eat of each type of food item.

“Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than
any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close,” Vinson
said in a statement.

Presenting his findings to a meeting of the American
Chemical Society in Washington, Vinson said this did not mean
that coffee was necessarily the best source of antioxidants.

“Unfortunately, consumers are still not eating enough
fruits and vegetables, which are better for you from an overall

nutritional point of view due to their higher content of
vitamins, minerals and fiber,” he said.

Dates, cranberries and red grapes have high concentrations
of antioxidants, he said.

But Americans do not eat much of these foods.

Black tea was the second-leading source of antioxidants in
the U.S. diet. Bananas, dry beans and corn placed third, fourth

and fifth, Vinson found.