Can You Get Too Many Antioxidants?
New research on antioxidants suggests that we may be getting too much of a good thing.
If you’re at all interested in nutrition, then you’re familiar with the terms antioxidant and free radical. Both are invoked frequently, and always in the same sort of way. We talk about the body as if it were some sort of Wild West shoot-out between the free radicals (in dark bandannas) and the antioxidants (wearing white). I myself frequently cite the potential damage caused by free radicals and the benefits of foods that are rich in antioxidants, such as vegetables.
But lately, there have been suggestions that this Shootout at OK Corral imagery may be an over-simplification—or even an outright mistake. Have we got it all wrong about free radicals and antioxidants? Are free radicals actually good for us? Can you get too many antioxidants?
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Do Free Radicals Cause Aging?
Free radicals, of course, are molecules with an unpaired electron, which makes them electrically unstable. In an effort to stabilize themselves, they recruit electrons from other molecules, which often creates more free radicals. If it gets out of hand, this electron-robbing free-for-all can cause a lot of damage, disrupting cellular function and DNA.
Way back in the middle of the last century, a scientist named Denny Harmon first introduced the notion that free radicals were a primary cause of aging and disease—and that quelling these free radicals with antioxidants could help us live longer and keep us from getting sick.
Ever since, it’s as if we’ve been in some sort of race in which whoever consumes the most antioxidants wins–which explains why antioxidant supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry. Weirdly, however, it has turned out that taking all these supplements doesn’t actually make anyone any healthier. In a few studies, people taking antioxidant supplements were actually worse off than those who didn’t.
Should You Take Antioxidants?
It appears that taking high dose antioxidants may reduce the benefit you get from exercise.
In the past couple of years, we’ve been learning that free radicals may actually have some benefits—and that overloading ourselves with antioxidants may be getting in the way of the body’s normal healthy way of functioning. For example, we know that vigorous exercise creates a lot of free radicals in the body. And because we’ve been taught that free radicals are harmful, many people reasoned that athletes should take high-dose antioxidants to counter-act the damaging effects of all those free radicals. But it turns out that this may do more damage than good.
Can You Get Too Many Antioxidants?
You see, it turns out that the production of free radicals in the body triggers the body’s own antioxidant defenses—and also helps the body adapt to the stress of exercise. That ability to adapt in turn enhances the effects and benefits of exercise. Flooding the body with antioxidants, on the other hand, prevents that adaptation from occurring. It appears that taking high dose antioxidants may reduce the benefit you get from exercise.
Other studies in nematodes, which are a type of worm, show that big doses of antioxidants actually shorten their lifespan. This is a little like that moment at the end of The Empire Strikes Back (SPOILER ALERT) when you find out that Darth Vader is actually Luke Skywalker’s father. The mind reels.
Are Free Radicals Good for Us?
At the very least, it appears that in viewing free radicals as the enemy of health, we greatly over simplified the situation. And then, as we so often do, we over-reacted by taking huge amounts of antioxidants. It seems as if we have to learn this lesson again and again: Just because something is good doesn’t mean that more is necessarily better.
Instead of staging a Shootout at the OK Corral, I think we need to take a sort of Goldilocks approach, aiming for a healthy balance. Apparently, free radicals serve a helpful function in the body. So it’s not surprising that wholesome activities like exercising (and breathing) create them. On the other hand, too many free radicals can be damaging, which is why it’s a good idea to avoid second hand smoke, deep-fried foods, sunburns, and other things that create excessive exposure to free radicals.
Likewise, antioxidants serve a valuable function, so it’s not surprising that diets featuring antioxidant-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes are linked with good health and reduced disease. On the other hand, overwhelming the body with artificially concentrated doses of antioxidants appears to be of little benefit and may even be harmful.
As you know, I’m not a big fan of vitamin supplements. So this new take on free radicals doesn’t really change what I’ve been recommending all along. Spend your money on nutritious whole foods instead of supplements, stay active, avoid excessive stress, and keep your sense of humor. After all, as Barry Halliwell of the National University of Singapore points out, “You cannot live without [free radicals], nor should you wish to, but they will probably help to kill you in the end.”
May The Force be with you!
RESOURCES:
Free Radicals and Life Span (Discovery)
Free Radicals and Exercise (New York Times)