Antioxidants: are they all they’re hyped up to be?

It’s hard to walk through the juice or energy drink section of the grocery store, stroll through the supplement section, or even to turn on the TV without hearing about acai berry, blueberry, and other “superjuices” and their supposed antioxidant effects.  The combined global sales of all antioxidant products- including green tea, chocolate, fruit juices and traditional vitamins- totaled $32 billion in 2009, exceeding the value of organic foods!  But what exactly is an antioxidant? To answer this question, we must first understand what free radicals are.

A “free radical” is a term for a certain kind of molecule that exists within the body.  They are produced continuously, and at low levels, act normally in cell processes. However, uncontrolled levels of free radicals have been shown to result in many human diseases, including cancer and heart disease, and are also thought to speed up the ageing process. This is where antioxidants really become important. Antioxidants scavenge and remove free radicals, therefore limiting their ability to damage the body. Antioxidant levels are high in the following: vitamins C, E, and beta carotene, and can also be synthetically produced (found in many energy drinks as NAC).  Throughout the last decade, as scientists have begun to develop the understanding that free radicals are bad, the idea has sequentially developed that antioxidants must be good…. Right?

In 2007, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the first study that reported that antioxidants do not decrease disease risk like we thought they should, but instead increase overall mortality. Many studies have since followed that show that high-dosage vitamin supplementation, particularly with vitamins C and E, actually results in higher incidence of heart disease. How on earth could this be possible?? In high enough doses, it’s been shown that through some complicated chemical reactions, vitamin C acts as a free radical. (You can take my word for it, or you can click here http://www.fasebj.org/content/13/9/1007.full  for a geeky explanation as to how this occurs).  In addition, it’s recently been shown that some of these high doses of vitamins C and E may also blunt some of the really good stuff that occurs as a result of exercise.  I’m not trying to paint the story that antioxidants are the new bad guys.  In fact, the jury is still out on exactly why mega doses of antioxidants may increase disease risk, but, this data has certainly led scientists to start searching other avenues by which to boost antioxidant defenses.

You may be thinking: where do I go from here? Should I continue to take my antioxidant supplement? The truth is, a diet rich in fruits (ex: berries, grapes, and apples) and vegetables (ex: onions, beans, eggplant) will provide you with high enough levels of antioxidants.  If you want to be really certain you’re getting enough, simply add one more serving of fruit to your diet.  The second way to boost your antioxidant defenses shouldn’t be a huge surprise to all you savvy SFC followers: exercise!  Doesn’t it seem like nearly every day, scientists come out with a new reason why exercise is good?? Trust me- the list is endless.  So, you can add boosting antioxidant defense as one of the hundreds (or more) reasons to exercise. Not only does physical activity results in more antioxidant production, but those antioxidants work much better than the ones found in a supplement.

Despite what advertisements try to tell you, there is no magic pill when it comes to aging, disease, and health.  If you want to live long and healthy (and be sufficiently good at scavenging those pesky free radicals), eat a well-balanced diet and exercise regularly.

This is a guest post, written by Nellie Reuland.  She is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Health and Exercise Science Human Bioenergetics Program at Colorado State University.  More importantly, she is a VERY close friend and SFC supporter.  Thanks, Nellie, for the excellent post!