Objective： This study aimed to investigate the active ingredients, and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as the correlation between each other of different food water extracts. Methods： Black rice, black soybean, black sesame, Auricularia auricula, diospyros lotus, black corn, oat and millet were selected for the comparison study of the content of total flavonoids and polyphenols in the aqueous extract, and then the 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, hydroxyl radical scavenging ability and iron ion reduction capacity were determined to evaluate their antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the NO and IL-6 inhibitory activities on Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) induced RAW264.7 cells were tested to investigate the anti-inflammatory activities. Results： The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were positively correlated with the contents of total flavonoids and polyphenols, and the two activities were also positively correlated. Among them, diospyros lotus showed the highest content of total flavonoids and polyphenols with 1.716 mg/g and 3.043 mg/g respectively, and the radical clearance capacity of DPPH was 89.48% at 1 mg/mL which was significantly higher than the others. It also showed anti-inflammatory activity with 65.92% and 78.62% inhibitory rates against NO and IL-6 at 5 mg/mL on LPS induced RAW264.7 cells. Meanwhile, black rice had a strong DPPH scavenging ability and iron ion reducing ability, and it also showed strong inhibitory activities against NO and IL-6. Millet, a non-black food, showed obvious advantages in hydroxyl free radical scavenging activity and anti-inflammatory effect compared with black corn and A. auricula. Conclusion： Water extracts from eight kinds of food had varying degrees of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities which were positively correlated with the contents of total flavonoids and polyphenols. Among them, diospyros lotus had the highest content of total flavonoids and polyphenols with the strongest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out more in-depth application research on diospyros lotus.