 |
||
|
|
||
|
||||||
Anti-Antioxidants?By: V. Deborah Culligan, RN, MPH, We search for the keys to unending youth, health and longevity. With every nutrition finding that comes along, we are there, ready to try most anything if we can stay young and healthy! The problem is that in this media-driven society, one small finding or observation can become big news. The different media groups repeat the same information over and over and those that market products take that information and grandly promote it. Before you know it, a small finding with possible benefits for a larger group, pending further scientific study, becomes a "super star" and the latest nutrition fad. This happened with antioxidants. Initially, in some small observational studies, antioxidants seemed like they could be "magic bullets" to cure our health woes. These initial subjective studies were interesting enough to researchers that they decided to conduct more scientific studies, with controls. And now, many years later, researchers have concluded that antioxidants are not the "magic bullet" they were hoped to be. In fact, in some cases, they may even be harmful if taken in large doses. To understand why researchers thought antioxidants might be worthy of the adoration they have received, it may be helpful to understand what an antioxidant is. Simply stated, an antioxidant is a chemical compound or substance that keeps molecules from oxidizing. Oxidation can change the chemical structure of a molecule which can lead to damage (such as a cell becoming cancerous.) In the lab in test tubes, this concept held true. Antioxidants are often added as a preservative to food products to prevent or delay deterioration from the action of the air. But in the body, they do not have the same results. Antioxidants include: Vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene (which converts vitamin A), lycopene (found in tomatoes), selenium, flavonoids (found in apples and onions), anthocynins found in grapes, catechins found in chocolate, tea and red wine, isoflavones, found in soy, hydroxycinnamic acids found in coffee and reveratral, found in red wine. This has turned many foods into "superstars" according to the food manufacturers who promote them. Futhermore, there are multiple bottles of mixtures of antioxidants available in the supplement section of many stores. (You no longer have to go to the health food store. Your local Walmart or grocery store carries them all!) With the exception of the eye products for macular degeneration*, antioxidants have not been demonstrated to produce any long-lasting health effects. (*Eye formulations have been shown to be effective, but must be taken in the exact formulation as the original study prescribed.) In fact, in some cases, mega-doses of antioxidants may cause more harm than good. The American Heart Association at one time recommended antioxidant supplements, but now does not because antioxidants have failed to confirm or justify the hoped-for results. This does not mean that antioxidants are bad. Rather, it cautions you to not spend your money on products that have not demonstrated positive results and in some cases, are detrimental to health. It is also a warning that there is no single way to good health. Almost all nutritional scientists recommend the following: Eat well, eat variety, and include lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Try to eat from a variety of "colors." Most of the positive effects of nutrients demonstrated by studies, come from actual food, not from supplements. (In the case of resveratral, red wine and mice, the mice got the equivalent of 750 bottles of wine a day to achieve the desired effect!) In our culture today, small findings or hypotheses can get spun into huge, unsubstantiated stories that escalate into the latest "fad" in health. Use your common sense when evaluating products that make promises that seem too fantastic to be true. For more information on antioxidants, District residents (Hamden, North Haven and Woodbridge) can call QVHD, 203.248.4528. Or you can request information online or through email, dculligan@qvhd.org
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Quinnipiack Valley Health District |
Phone. (203)248-4528 |
|
|
|
| © 2008, Quinnipiack Valley Health District. All rights reserved Web site design by SNP Technologies, Inc. |
[Privacy Statement] |
