Antioxidants are Bad for You?
Antioxidants were never thought to HURT a person.
In fact, just the opposite. Many think they’re THE answer to the fountain of youth … and load up on tons of different pills and potions.
From vitamins E and C to resveratrol and lipoic acid, there are dozens of known antioxidants and certainly even more that have yet to be discovered.
But what if we told you about new research suggesting supplementing with certain antioxidants may PREVENT the health benefits of exercise?
Seriously.
This study evaluated the effects of 1000 mg vitamin C and 400 IU’s vitamin E on insulin sensitivity (very simply, how well your body uses insulin). It’s well established that exercise improves insulin sensitivity (which is particularly great for those with diabetes).
But when the researchers gave participates the two vitamins, combined with the exercise, they found the same benefit of the exercise was "blocked" by the supplementation.
Interesting.
Now, this isn’t to say EATING these antioxidants is bad — please do.
You can load up on vitamin C by eating a variety of fruits and veggies. Of course they also provide a ton more nutrients than just vitamin C to boot. And some good sources of vitamin E, while more difficult to get from foods, include almonds, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and many leafy greens.
Moral of the Story: Eat your nutrients, rather than trying to find that magic pill or potion. We’re not saying all supplements are "bad" per se, but this study is an interesting one — suggesting that using supplementation with 2 popular antioxidants may negatively effect some of the health-promoting effects of exercise in humans.
Of course it’s not the "final" answer on this topic — just another piece to the puzzle.
August 10th, 2010 at 8:11 am
What journal is the study from? What are the numbers of the people in the study and were they male or female. I believe it is difficult to make any conclusions with out the specific information about the study or was the purpose of this post to get us to first get our vitamins naturally from food first then go the way of supplementation?
Were the participants diabetic. Too much info left out…-:)
Cheers!
Mike
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Here is the entire reference for the article.
Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans.
Ristow M, Zarse K, Oberbach A, Klöting N, Birringer M, Kiehntopf M, Stumvoll M, Kahn CR, Blüher M.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26;106(21):8665-70
Of course I summarized it greatly for the blog — just about 40, young healthy men in the study. Yes, we can never draw complete conclusions from one single study because there are so many factors. I put this out there as yet another piece to the puzzle. Great questions!
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August 10th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
I’d love a reference for that study! Thanks for letting us know about this – important information!
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Ristow M, Zarse K, Oberbach A, Klöting N, Birringer M, Kiehntopf M, Stumvoll M, Kahn CR, Blüher M.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26;106(21):8665-70
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August 10th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Frankly, I’m not convinced antioxidants (even from plants) are that useful to us. I have not read any definitive studies regarding the benefits and there have been studies that have actually demonstrated that many of the antioxidants from plants are actually treated as foreign compounds in the body and are removed (although they can activate useful pathways as a side effect).
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 9:22 am
They are surely useful as a whole — countless studies support that — the key may be when eaten in synergy with the other nutrients in the foods, not necessarily when taken individually, like in this study.
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August 10th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
I need more information to take this article into consideration…Im with Mike.
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Here is the full reference.
Ristow M, Zarse K, Oberbach A, Klöting N, Birringer M, Kiehntopf M, Stumvoll M, Kahn CR, Blüher M.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26;106(21):8665-70
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August 11th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Thanks for the reference.
For me personally supplementation compliments everything else I do to improve my health.
supplementation is not a be all end and likeverything else has be to put into perspective. Each of our bodies are different as much as they are similiar and we have to figure out what works best for us.
Cheers!
Mike
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