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We are all being told to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. The obvious question to ask is why? And when we accept the reason the next question is how do I know I am getting enough? That is where the ABEL® total antioxidant capacity test (ABEL-TAC) gives the answer.

Knight Scientific offers ABEL-TAC testing service for medical practitioners, pharmacists, companies, as well as individuals. The test requires no more than a finger prick of blood and gives a numerical score, derived from a set of antioxidant standards. The ABEL®-TAC score may be used as the basis of dietary and other advice given by nutritionists, dieticians and medical practitioners to their patients/clients.

Order a test at: info@knightsientific.com or telephone 01752 565767

 

Well-Person Monitoring with ABEL-TAC

The ABEL®-TAC test has been validated by scientists in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, UK and USA, often in work on exercise physiology.

With support, you can change or supplement your diet to ensure you obtain everything you need to enhance your body’s supply of antioxidants as well as induce your body to produce its own antioxidant defence mechanisms. These are necessary in order to remove excess free radicals which if left unchecked can harm you. An imbalance between free radicals and other very reactive molecules can lead to oxidative stress which if left unchecked can increase your chances of developing diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

A very important value of this test is that it is very difficult to cheat. For example, individuals who think they eat a diet poor in antioxidants might, just before the test, eat a lot of fruit or drinks high in antioxidants. While small increases in antioxidants are measured soon after eating, it would not be possible to shift a score of say 300 to 400 in just a few days. If someone has a very low score then improvements can be seen in a few weeks after instigating a diet rich in antioxidants. Such diets should also include proteins and good quality oils such as extra virgin olive oil which is high in phenolic antioxidants, vitamin E and mono-unsaturated fatty acids. Fats are needed to absorb vitamins A,D,E and K and carotenoids. And without proteins in the diet it will be difficult for protein antioxidants such as albumin and antioxidant enzymes to be produced in the body.

The scores are relatively stable, day to day but do increase immediately after eating. Repeat testing should therefore be under the same conditions and preferably before eating. People with good antioxidant scores should be encouraged to have the test repeated every two to three months (or more frequently). If an individual, at a repeat test, has a significantly lower score and claims not to have changed his diet then this should be noted and the test repeated after a week. If the score still remains low, or decreases further, then this person should be considered as a possible candidate for pre-type 2 diabetes.

 

Above is a distribution of ABEL®-TAC scores for 1399 samples. Most people will have scores in the 400 - 500 region. To the right is an explanation of what different scores indicate. If your ABEL®-TAC score is less then 400, or more then 550, your practitioner can give you advice on how to improve.