Lately I’ve been working with a very special machine that measures your body’s level of antioxidants (generating something called your Skin Carotenoid Score). There have been thousands of studies that show the correlation between our level of antioxidants in the body and our level of health and resilience. Some argue that antioxidants aren’t that important, but I challenge them to consistently find people who are vital and resilient AND have low levels of antioxidants. I haven’t found any yet.
Dr. Oz Uses the Biophotoic Scanner
This machine was recently on the Dr. Oz show in which they showed some clips of him asking people on the street whether they knew what antioxidants were and most people really didn’t have a clue.
Then he tested everyone in the audience to see what their score was, and gave him all a T-shirt to correlate with the color that represented the number of antioxidants their score indicated. Red was “dangerously low”, then orange (still not so hot), yellow (not a level to sustain longterm health), green (good, but not great) and blue (the optimal level). What was surprising (especially to him) was that 80% of the audience was in the red and orange category and only a measly 6% was in the blue!
What Contributes to Your Level of Antioxidants?
Dr. Oz’s explanation for all of the low scores was that people aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables, which is the easiest way to boost your antioxidants. Your level of antioxidants also depends upon a bunch of other factors:
- Your diet
- Your supplementation
- Your level of stress and how you manage it
- Your exposure to radiation
- Your exposure to pollution
The following diagram contains a clear and simple explanation of how antioxidants help us:
So, we want to have the highest level possible of antioxidants because antioxidants create a defense for the body to prevent disease and help us heal faster if we do get sick.
If you look at the diagram, you can see that if your level of antioxidants were in the red or the orange (between 10,000 and 30,000), you wouldn’t have a lot of reserves to protect you against the negative effects of free radicals.
Stress Management is Key to Maintaining Your Antioxidant Levels
What I have found very interesting with the people I’ve been testing is that diet and educated supplementation are clearly important to establish their base level, AND how they manage their stress seems to be of prime importance in keeping their levels high.
When they go through a period of increased stress, it can lower their levels as much as 20,000 points in a few weeks. On the other hand, when they get on my Restore Your Soul Program and start doing regular Qigong, BodyTalk, improving their nourishment practices, and adopting a soul-nurturing philosophy, their levels increase substantially.
Getting Scanned
The scan is a great way to get an idea of where you’re at, what kind of reserves you have and get you motivated to increase those reserves and prevent disease. Dr. Oz tested himself on the show and his score was 75,000 (basically off the chart). I’m happy to report that my score was higher than Dr. Oz (at almost 80,000). I’m not saying that to show off, but simply to demonstrate that what I’m doing works and I’m passionate about sharing my practices and tools with you to help you get the same results.
Take the Test Yourself
If you’re interested in finding out your score –it only takes 90 seconds and you don’t have to undress 
– I’ll be offering scans at my workshops in the following places: San Francisco this Saturday, June 9th, in Wilton, CT on June 22nd, in New York, NY on June 25th, in Fairfield, CT on June 26th and Bangor, ME on June 28th . Or you can contact me to arrange a private scan.
What Can You Do Right Now to Raise or Maintain Your Antioxidant Levels?
- Eat More Veggies and Fruit- most people recommend 9 servings (fist-fulls) per day — and I would try not to overdo it on the fruit (Check out Your Healthy Kitchen, Vol 1 for some healthy recipes)
- Practice Regular Qigong
- Have a good quality green drink per day
- Get some BodyTalk
- Take good quality supplements (I don’t take a ton of supplements, but I do follow some basic principles around keeping my pH balanced, which is so important for staying healthy and keeping your antioxidant levels high)
Stay tuned for more articles on Managing Stress and keeping your antioxidant levels high…
Watch the Dr. Oz clip about Antioxidants
