Antioxidants generates many millions in terms of sales. The industry has succeded in convincing people that they need to flood their bodies with antioxidants in order to fight off free radicals…those poor misunderstood free radicals. Cancer is on the rise in spite of the METEORIC rise in antioxidant sales. Ironic? Or maybe the excess antioxidants are causing more harm than good because antioxidants are redox substances in nature, meaning under certain circumstances they can also be pro-oxidants! (Schwartz, 1996). Or maybe this antioxidant stuff is all part of the “depopulation program” (another topic of discussion)
Everything which is in the body is there for a reason. God made it. Oestrogen in a male body serves a purpose, cortisol in an athlete’s body serves a purpose. Likewise, free radicals also serve a purpose in the body. Exercise, for instance, releases free radicals which are important signaling molecules in the body. Yes you need free radicals like Nitric Oxide for your body to derive beneficial adaptations like increased glucose transporter production. In studies, antioxidant supplementation after exercise has been shown to BLUNT these exercise adaptations, meaning you don’t get any exercise benefit (Ristow et al., 2009). Surprising? Free radicals are important in the functioning of the body. The key lies in the amount. This forms the basis of the concept of “mitohormesis” (just google the term). Meaning that in small amounts free radicals serve good purposes and problems only arise in high amounts.
People, you get ample antioxidants from the healthy food that you eat. Fruits, Chocolate, Coffee, wine, etc…You don’t need to flood your body with GRAMS of vitamin C, E, polyphenols etc. In so doing you are doing more harm than good to yourself. Your body already has a built-in antioxidant defence system with enzymes like Superoxide dismutase. It has time and again been shown that excess dietary antioxidant supplementation BLUNTS these built-in systems.
You will tell me that “stress” and “pollution” are increasing cancer rates and we need to supplement massively. Still people are dying because they don’t think out of the box.
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