A review article on antioxidant boosters and their potential detrimental effects on our health.
We have been bombarded about the importance of taking in the proper amount of the most popular antioxidants, vitamin C and E. However, a growing number of new studies are slowly getting many professionals to revise their opinions. If you take vitamin E, C, or an antioxidant blend you will want to read on!
The New Studies
The first study that was all over the news was the American Heart Associations analysis of several studies. This study showed an increase in death among people consuming 400 IU or more of vitamin E per day! Although the study design was not perfect, it got some researchers and medical professionals thinking about their favorite fat soluble antioxidant.
Next, a series of studies on vitamin C intake and its activities in the body came up. Vitamin C is arguably the most popular supplement of choice by Americans, and is often taken in large dosages. A study conducted on healthy adult subjects supplementing with 500 mg. daily for six weeks actually found the vitamin C induced pro-oxidant damage. That means the vitamin C was actually inducing the damage it is supposed to be protecting against!
Just a Piece of the Puzzle
Now, before you go throwing your multivitamin in the trash because it contains 500mg of vitamin C, or even 1,000 mg. to be taken over two times per day, let’s take a perspective here.
First and foremost, there is a lot of data to support the use of vitamin E up to 800 IU per day and vitamin C up to 1,000 mg. per day. The vitamin E study above was actually done on heart patients, not healthy adults. In science, we often find that the results of a study are very much dependent on the population studied. Finally, there is a lot of data supporting moderate amounts of vitamin C and E to protect oxidation caused by daily living and especially exercises. So, the new research is simply a piece of the puzzle.
So What do we Do?
The answer is simple and complex at the same time. We all want to protect ourselves as best we can from age-related damage; however, we are now learning that taking the best studied antioxidants (vitamin C and E) to the extreme may not be the best way to do that.
What we can do is take a general One-per Day full spectrum multivitamin, or even a slightly more potent twice per day multivitamin, but then, instead of reaching for the “antioxidant booster” that we used to take, we can turn to whole foods and its derivatives!
The New Beauty of Whole Foods
Recently, there has been a lot of research on the various compounds that Mother Nature provides that have many wonderful health benefits, including antioxidant capabilities, anticancer properties, and various other health benefits. Here is a list of some quick and easy ones you can add to your next shopping list.
• Green tea, black tea, even fresh roasted coffee
• Plums
• Citrus fruits like oranges
• Grapes (anthocyanins, reveratrol, etc., are found)
• Berries (anthocyanins/ polyphenols)
• Bell pepper (carotenoids, phenolics, and various other compounds)
• Tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin (carotenoids can decline in the body under stress)
• Extra virgin olive oil (phenolics)
So, next time you bite into a juicy plum, a fresh tomato, or drizzle a little olive oil on your salad know you are not only getting healthy macronutrients, but healthy micronutrients as well!
References:
AHA.org Meeting Report: “High doses of vitamin E supplements do more harm than good.”Nov 10, 2004; accessed May 17, 2006.
Podmore, D., et al. Nature. 1998 392: 559.
Paolini, M., et al. “The nature of pro-oxidant activity of vitamin C.” Life Sci, 1999 64(23): PL273-278.
Church, T, et al. “Reduction of C-Reactive protein levels through use of a multivitamin.” American Journal of Medicine. Dec 2003.
Earnest, C. et al. “Complex Multivitamin Supplementation Improves Homocysteine and Resistance to LDL-C Oxidation.” American College of Nutrition. vol 22 No. 5, 2003.
Jessica Kim – A clinical nutritionist and aspiring dietician, Jessica spends most of her time doing rounds as a nutritionist in a hospital setting. Her passion for writing and health translate into a unique clinical perspective on health topics. Jessica has no problem pointing out where fitness enthusiasts take a single research study to the extreme, by reminding us of sound clinical advice! Jessica can be reached at jessicakim@mklaboratory.com