Sunday, March 7, 2010

Now they say Antioxidants are bad for you!!

For every medical report showing that something is good or bad, there will someday be a report that says the complete opposite! This has been true for the past 100 years. For any treatment, there will be a report "proving" that the treatment either doesn't work as promised or worst.

You can take the sythnetic vitamin C vs natural, spring water vs distilled water, Omega 3 fish oil, etc.

Now there is a report out that taking antioxidants in suppliment form not only is doesn't work as advertised, but may actually be harmful for you! Can you believe this?

I have been taking Antioxidants like vitamin C for years and have implemented a supplemental program of taking zinc and vitamin E to counter the diagnosis of early stage prostate cancer. Now who do you believe? If we listen to all these so-called expert reports that counter each other, then we are left not being able to eat, drink or breathe! Nothing is safe. It's dangerous to eat ANY food, drink any water, or breathe the air. We might as well hold our breath until we
die, according to all these reports!

Here's the email that I received last week that started this whole counter antioxidant debate...

WARNING: Don't Take Antioxidants Until You Read This!


By the Underground Health Reporter™

Think-Outside-the-Book Publishing, LLC



Did You Know...

...that taking high doses of antioxidant supplements -- such as beta carotene, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and selenium -- does not reduce the risk of acquiring diseases, but has also been shown to be poisonous to the human body and may even increase the risk of death?


As long ago as the 1950s, antioxidants became known as miracle supplements because they "reportedly" promoted good health and prevented a host of diseases, including cancer and age-related diseases. According to some estimates, approximately 50% of the adult population in the U.S. take antioxidants on a daily basis for this reason.

Here's a wake-up call: Every long-term study involving antioxidant supplementation provides proof that people get sicker -- not healthier -- when they take antioxidants. In fact, beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E, taken individually or in combination with other antioxidant supplements, are associated with increased all-cause mortality. [Source: The Journal of the
American Medical Association - based on 68 randomized trials with 232,606 participants (385 publications).]

In case you were wondering ... this information is not just another propaganda employed by the medical and pharmaceutical industries to prevent people from using natural therapies, or to deceive people into thinking that drugs are the only solution to disease.

Here are the facts:

Over the last several decades, supplement manufacturers (and even health practitioners) have urged people to take large amounts of antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E because scientists had observed that people whose diets were rich in fruits and vegetables had a lower incidence of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, stroke and certain types of cancer. They formed the hypothesis that since fruits and vegetables are a rich source of antioxidants (which neutralize free radicals in the body), then taking antioxidant supplements would have the same effect.

That hypothesis has been proven wrong. Here's why:

Fruits and vegetables produce antioxidants for good reason -- that is, to protect themselves from oxidative stress. Without antioxidants, oxygen destroys food by combining with elements and burning them up -- hence, vitamin destruction in food (or decay) occurs.

However, dietary antioxidants have virtually no nutritional benefit to the human body. Antioxidants such as ascorbic acid and tocopherols, for instance, are not essential nutrients -- and as such, they should not even be called vitamins at all.

While antioxidants serve their purpose WITHIN a fruit or vegetable, in the human body, they only disrupt normal oxidative reactions in the cell. This is
why they are dangerous to consume (except in the minute amounts ingested from
food).


In summary, if you want to stave off disease and premature aging, there is no substitute to eating fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants instead of taking antioxidant supplements.

4 comments:

  1. The more I research this topic, the more it seems that the supplements touted as a good source of antioxidants, the more it seems as if these supplements don't work like their food counterparts. There may be some supplements that do help, but the best would be eating the fruit and veggies that have them instead.

    The controversy continues on this web site, the Scientific American...

    Fact or Fiction: Antioxidant Supplements Will Help You Live Longer

    Does the scientific research back the marketing claims?

    By Jonathan Scheff
    June 6, 2008

    If antioxidant supplement labels are to be believed, you should stop reading this article and gobble down some pills: Spurred by the rising sales of antioxidant supplements, Pom Wonderful, makers of pomegranate juice, now makes an antioxidant supplement that they claim has "extraordinary health benefits."

    CONTINUED...

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=antioxidant-supplements-will-help-you-live-longer

    ReplyDelete
  2. ABC News had a special report about antioxidants and whether they are effective.

    Antioxidant Study Renews Supplement Debate

    Review Suggests Antioxidants Do Not Prolong Life;

    Critics Say Analysis Flawed

    By DAN CHILDS
    ABC News Medical Unit
    April 16, 2008

    Supplements containing antioxidants -- purported fighters of cancer and age-related cell damage -- may do little to prolong the lives of people who take them, according to a new review of published studies.

    CONTINUED...

    http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=4660292&page=1

    ReplyDelete
  3. I will post a few articles that state how antioxidants can be harmful before going to the other side and find some proof that it is beneficial to take them. Here's a report from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center that shows an overdose of antioxidants can result from taking mega doses of the substances...

    Antioxidant Overdose Could be Harmful

    September 25, 2009

    For years, health-conscious people have been taking antioxidants to reduce the levels of reactive oxygen in their blood and prevent the DNA damage done by free radicals, which are the result of oxidative stress.

    However, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center are finding out if using antioxidants in excess depletes immune systems.

    CONTINUED...

    http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-overdose-antioxidants-092509.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like to give both sides of a debate, especially when it concerns health issues such as this one about antioxidants. It is essential that we dig through all the propaganda that opposing sides give and get to the actual truth. Sometimes this is difficult as both sides argue with "facts" that seem to disprove the opposite side completely. Then it is important to find sources that are objective and do a thorough research in order to give a factual picture.

    I hope that this warning about antioxidants is overblown. I have read that antioxidants are essential for natually fighting cancer, heart disease and other ailments. It is my belief that the "answer" is somewhere in the middle.

    If someone has found a report that gives a fair & balanced view and has explored in depth the issues involved, I will be appreciative.

    Here then is another report that suggests that taking antioxidants may be harmful to our health...

    http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Taking+antioxidants+could+be+harmful+to+your+health.-a0189551765

    Taking antioxidants could be harmful to your health

    ReplyDelete