The Anti-Anti-Oxidants

I've been trying to get more good stuff into my body, not just on it, so I picked up two anti-oxidant boosters over the past few months, to add to my water, Dr. Brandt's and Pure Inventions. Dr. Brandt contains green and white tea extracts, lo han, lotus and grape seed extracts. What I like about Brandt's product is that I don't notice it. Dr. Brandt's booster passes the drinkability test with an A+. Pure uses green tea, lo han and stevia extract, as well as lotus, kudzu root and Chinese licorice. Kudzu is supposed to suppress one's desire for alcohol? Who knew - a rehab center in a eyedropper. How very showbiz.

But after getting into the water groove, I found an article in the February 28, 2007 Journal of the American Medical Association (pdf here) that evaluated whether antioxidant supplements had an impact on death rates - death rates on people - not lab rats. The results were not so encouraging, as Science Daily helps make a little clearer."Our systematic review contains a number of findings. Beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E given singly or combined with other antioxidant supplements significantly increase mortality. ...Our findings contradict the findings of observational studies, claiming that antioxidants improve health."
...
"There are several possible explanations for the negative effect of antioxidant supplements on mortality. Although oxidative stress has a hypothesized role in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases, it may be the consequence of pathological conditions. By eliminating free radicals from our organism, we interfere with some essential defensive mechanisms . Antioxidant supplements are synthetic and not subjected to the same rigorous toxicity studies as other pharmaceutical agents. Better understanding of mechanisms and actions of antioxidants in relation to a potential disease is needed," the researchers conclude."

Using anti-oxidants to fight free radicals in an effort to improve cell health has always kind of lived on the edge of verifiable science. Certain aspects of the theory were proven, and then reasonable minds concluded that if those things were true, then certain other things must be true, too. Not everyone agreed on those "other things." Now it looks like we are in for a scientific battle.

And this, of course, is way, way cool, because you know who will benefit? We will. By the time this is done, research scientists will have a better understanding of how our bodies fight disease and cell aging. From that understanding comes cures. Will I keep drinking the boosters? From what I have been able to figure out so far, the extracts I'm drinking weren't part of the study, and not all anti-oxidants fared badly in the study. The scientists found some evidence that selenium may actually prolong.

So, yeah. I'll keep up with the teas and other polyphenols, back off on overdosing on vits A & E, and keep checking for updates.