ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) is a measurement of the antioxidant rating of different foods. Antioxidants fight against harmful free radicals, known to be one of the main factors of the ageing process and also associated with the growth of cancerous cells. Although antioxidants are produced naturally in the body, the number declines with age, hence the need to acquire them from our diet.

Antioxidants work by significantly slowing or preventing the oxidative (damage from oxygen) process, caused by free radicals that can lead to cell dysfunction and the onset of problems like heart disease and diabetes. Antioxidants may also improve the immune function and perhaps lower your risk of infection and disease. In your body, the antioxidant process is similar to stopping an apple from browning. Once you cut an apple, it begins to brown, but if you dip it in orange juice, which contains vitamin C, it stays white.

Different fruits and vegetables contain varying levels of antioxidants. The higher the ORAC score, the better the food can neutralise free radicals. By choosing fruits and vegetables with a higher ORAC score, you can maximise your intake of antioxidants in your daily diet. Look for fruits with bright colours – lutein has a yellow pigment found in sweetcorn and turmeric and orange pigment in cinnamon and squash; lycopene is a red pigment found in tomatoes and melon, and purple pigments in berries and grapes. In general, the deeper the pigment in a fruit the higher its ORAC score. This is evident in fruits like cranberries, blueberries, plums, blackberries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, figs, cherries and oranges. However, high levels of antioxidants are not only found in fruits and vegetables. Nuts such as pecans, walnuts, pistachios and cashews also rank highly on the ORAC scale. 

Our new muesli contains blueberries, raisins, apples, pecans, walnuts and pistachios. We’ve also added pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds for that extra omega and mineral boost. And to add even more goodness of antioxidants and flavour, we’ve put a pinch of cinnamon in. We were at the Your Healthy Living Show in Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms on the 12th and 13th of June letting everyone taste the lovely samples! It is available to buy in our stores or from our webshop here. 

One of our newer, popular products is the Red Grape Cherry Antioxidant Drink by Mile High. With an extraordinary high ORAC value of 3,600 (compared to tomato juice at 275) it’s well worth a try, buy at either of our stores or buy online here.

Real Foods Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

With all the dodgy dealings and financial problems over the past year it’s difficult to know who you can trust with your money. The global banks are not your only option, why not switch your account to an ethical bank?

What is an ethical bank?
Ethical banks – including Triodos Bank, the Charity Bank and the Co-operative Bank – are breaking the financial mould, with a more progressive approach that values people and planet as well as profit. Ethical savers benefit from a ‘dual return’. As well as the interest they earn from their savings, they know that they’ve made an investment for good, and their money’s working in a way that they’re proud of.

The Break The Bank Campaign is an opportunity for you to do something to make a difference. it’s very simple.

1. Select an ethical bank (yes, they do exist) either by searching online or following this link to Ethical Junction’s ethical finance directory > > >

2. Close your existing bank account and open one with your chosen ethical bank.
    
3. Send an email to info@ethical-junction.org with the following words in the Subject line:

I broke the bank at [name of your old bank] and joined [name of your new bank]

We will then add up all the banks that have been left and all the banks joined and publish the results on 1 May 2009.

Enjoy making a difference today!

Join the campaign and spread the word. Break The Bank is on facebook >>> 

Click here to enter a prize draw for a £169 Samson 6-in-1 Juicer from Energise Your Life > > >

The Samson Juicer was recently voted “Best Buy”
Masticating Juicer by Which? magazine. It now also comes with an upgraded augur and strengthened juicing screen.

Energise Your Life supply quality products that help you live a healthier life. Visit their website to find our more > > > 

Choose a juicer quickly and confidently with Energise Your Life’s easy guide

There are plenty of new fads around as we enter a new year, and often health-related ones are the shortest lived of them all.  Take juicing for example, a quick and easy way of ensuring all the vitamins, minerals and other trace elements needed for optimum health.  Juicing is a great way of managing a safe, full system detox, or ideally as a very simple daily way of ensuring five-a-day of fruit and vegetables – in fact with a juicer you will probably double or even treble this intake with ease!

But, what kind of gadget is the best?  Picking the
wrong type of machine for your exact needs could make the difference
between many happy years of daily juicing and the associated health
benefits, and one which ends up at the back of the cupboard gathering
dust.

Energise Your Life (www.energiseyourlife.com)’s top UK website not only
sells a multitude of health gadgets from juicers, sprouters, ionisers,
filters and milk making machines, but is also a mine of information for
a healthy living lifestyle.  Offering impartial advice, helpful buying
and usage guides and clear comparison charts, Energise Your Life also
offers competitive prices – up to £104 off juicer RRPs – and free next
day delivery in the UK.

Here’s a link to the Energise Your Life juicer comparison chart,
comparing in comprehensive detail ten different automatic juicers
according to twelve criteria including ease of use and cleaning, juice
quality and yield, whether it juices wheatgrass, speed, warranties and
what else it makes, such as pasta, icecream, nut butters and sorbets,
and price comparison.

Energise Your Life’s top recommendation is the Samson 6-in-1 juicer –
awarded Best Buy Masticating Juicer by Which? Magazine and scoring top
marks in all categories.  Fantastic value at £169 (£30 cheaper than
RRP) the Samson juices fruits and vegetables as well as wheatgrass, and
can be used for making icecream, pasta, dips, noodles, nut butters and
sorbets.  Its compact size doesn’t take up too much surface space, and
it comes with a ten year motor guarantee.

A great mid-range juicer is the Solo Star II (£225), which in tests has
shown to produce over 20% more juice than the Oscar Vitalmax, and since
its recent introduction into the UK is proving to be a best seller
amongst juiceaholics.

If you’re serious about your juicing and want the optimum nutrition and
best quality juice around, it’s worth seeing the purchase of a juicer
as an investment.  Energise Your Life offers the Green Star GS2000
(£355) and the Green Star Gold – (at £395 saving £104 on the RRP) –
these truly are the Rolls-Royces of juicing and offer fantastic
performance, quality and longevity.   These twin gear juicers give such
high performance they are the favourite choice of raw food fanatics and
give the best results of all for wheatgrass and green juices.

Juicy facts:

• Drinking juiced fruits or vegetables gives your body and
  instant concentrated boost of nutrients, enzymes, vitamins and minerals
  in a form easily absorbed and digested by the body – entering the
  bloodstream within 30 minutes of consumption
• Juicing is healthy because the amount of vegetables or fruits
  juiced is much higher than eating whole items; not only this but it
  increases the amount of raw food in the diet, which has been shown to
  improve energy, detoxifies the body and boosts the immune system.
• Chlorophyll from green juices detoxifies the liver and builds
  red blood cells and is even thought to help prevent and remove cancer
  cells.
• Raw vegetable juices are alkaline, helping reduce acidity and its associated negative health implications.
• Some juices are even thought to be medicinal, such as
  cucumber and onion which help the pancreas produce insulin, and the
  natural antibiotic properties of garlic, onions and tomatoes.
• Juices could even help slow down ageing!  The minerals
  calcium, silicon and potassium are vital for cell health – a lack of
  these nutrients almost certainly speeds up cell death and thereby the
  ageing process.

Over the past few months, the ethical brand consultancy Scamper Branding have been pushing the boundaries of affordable web design and are now able to develop professional websites for a fraction of the usual cost.

“From our experience in web design and discussions with our clients, we found that there was a huge disparity between the cheap template websites that don’t meet clients needs, and custom designed websites that are very time consuming and therefore expensive to build” says Scamper’s Tom Greenwood.

“What many companies need is something in between, giving them a high
level of style and functionality at a price they can afford.”
By utilising the open source WordPress content management system (CMS)
and modifying the style and functionality of existing design themes,
Scamper are now able to give their clients advanced websites for the
cost of much more basic ones.

“We believe so strongly in this technique that we decided to practice
what we preach, and redesigned our own website according to these
principles. You can see the result at www.ScamperBranding.com” says
Vineeta Greenwood, co-founder of Scamper.

Now, to celebrate the launch of our new website, we are offering
Ethical Junction members free carbon neutral hosting with all WordPress
sites, as well as 10% off any sites ordered before the 1 April
2009.

The Alternative Plastic Bag Design Competition
@ The Global Café. RISC 35-39 London Street
from the 27th November 2008

Young people from local schools in Reading were asked to design and make a sustainable solution to the plastic bag. This was either by reclaiming waste materials or using sustainable natural materials.

The bags are now on show at the RISC’s Global Café creating a bag
bizarre to inspire all! You can go in and see them and vote for the
ones you want to win.

We would like members of the public to vote for their favourite designs by the 12th December.

We have short -listed the bags that we felt
+ Are innovative in design and in the transformation of materials used
+ Practicality and durability
+ Rethink the way we view our waste by recliaming materials or using sustainable natural resources.

So now we need you to vote! There are three categories that have been chosen by the age groups 7&8, 9&10 and 11&12.

There will be one winner selected in the 7&8 and 11&12 category and two in the 9&10.

You will need to ask at the bar for three voting stickers. You can then place votes for one bag in each category.

On Saturday 13th December there will be an opportunity for you to meet the young designers, as they will be modeling their bags in a fabulous fashion show in Broad Street Mall in Reading at 12 pm. The winners will be announced at the end of the show! Some bag prizes have been donated by Ethical Junction Members Dinks Ltd and Letsbeegreener

Veggie Vision launch a new look for National Vegan Month and Christmas Without Cruelty  

When Karin Ridgers was told a vegetarian and vegan TV programme was “too ahead of its time” and “too niche”, Karin decided to produce her own internet TV station and VeggieVision.TV was born.

The pilot was a great success not only with viewers tuning in but also filming for VeggieVision from all over the world. And despite having to wait for technology to catch up her idea VeggieVision is really moving forward with a super new look being launched this week with the wonderful support of Ket from Spirit Quest. 

VeggieVision will be at the coming Animal Aid Christmas Without Cruelty event and is going to be filming real people who want to share with the world why they went vegetarian and vegan.

Although all products and information is veggie friendly many of the
viewers are not vegetarian – they may simply be interested in healthier
options. We make short programmes with the aim that they will be
suitable for non veggies too.

VeggieVision also has the Free Guide to Surviving a Veggie Christmas which is packed with tips and advice from real vegetarians and will be available later this week.

We are supporters of Ethical Junction and look forward to doing much more with the team there too.

Passionate about healthy eating and carbon footprints VeggieVision is
now looking for new presenters as well as people who would like to send
in their own video content.

You can sign up by going to www.veggievision.co.uk and receive updates, information and a chance to win some super goodies.