 |
Antioxidant toxicity supplements; Help lower Toxicity and use Natural Vitamins and polyphenols from fruit and vegetables.
Antioxidant toxicity supplements; Help lower Toxicity and use Natural Vitamins and polyphenols from fruit and vegetables. From studies this practice is fairly safe since these antioxidants have a fairly low toxicity. However, large scale studies involving the use of supplemental antioxidant vitamins have produced mixed results, mind you, the antioxidants for these studies are sometimes synthetic, so it would seem to my way of thinking to make the studies invalid! Some studies have indicated benefits (such as less coronary artery disease with vitamin E supplements) while others have failed to reduce cancer rates. Some studies have even shown that antioxidant supplements can reach toxic levels, and may in fact promote cancer. However, the antioxidant story is much bigger than just these three nutrients. In addition to the antioxidant vitamins they contain, whole grains, nuts' fruits and vegetables also contain a wide variety of flavonoids and other plant phenolics (such as ellagic, ferulic and caffeic acids) that act as powerful antioxidants.Toxic levels are not reached from these. Flavonoids also extend the activity of vitamin C and inhibit blood clot formation; grapes, strawberries, raspberries and nuts are rich in ellagic acid, while oats, grapes, blueberries, and prunes are good sources of ferulic and caffeic. The phenolic compounds in ginger have an antioxidant activity even greater than vitamin E, and are not toxic.
Antioxidants are also widely used as ingredients in dietary supplements, avoiding toxicity, in the hope of maintaining health and preventing diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease. Always remember the the big 3 antioxidant toxicity supplements; if the first and last are too high, then it will equal the middle one.
Essential oils are extremely concentrated, and care must be taken when using these in our food;Oil of cloves has toxicity limits that can be exceeded with the misuse of undiluted essential oils. Toxicity associated with high doses of water-soluble antioxidants such as ascorbic acid are less of a concern, as these compounds can be excreted rapidly in urine. More seriously, very high doses of some antioxidants may have harmful long-term effects. The beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) study of lung cancer patients found that smokers given beta-carotene supplements had increased rates of lung cancer. Subsequent studies confirmed these adverse effects in smokers given beta carotene. Some antioxidants are made in the body and are not absorbed from the intestine. One example is glutathione, which is made from amino acids. As any glutathione in the gut is broken down to free cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid before being absorbed, even large oral doses have little effect on the concentration of glutathione in the body. Ubiquinol (coenzyme Q) is also poorly absorbed from the gut and is made in humans through the mevalonate pathway. Even less fatty foods such as fruits are sprayed with sulfurous antioxidants prior to air drying. Oxidation is often increased by metals, which is why fats such as butter should never be wrapped in aluminum foil or kept in metal containers. Some fatty foods such as olive oil are partially protected from oxidation by their natural level of antioxidants, but remain sensitive to light.
Body Cleansing and Detoxification The Orac Score has been developed to measure the antioxidant capability of nutritional supplements and foods, which is great in helping us determine which supplement to buy, but the actual food on our plate today has an undetermined amount, if any! Antioxidant toxicity supplements; Antioxidants and supplements were once thought to be harmless but increasingly we are becoming aware of interactions and potential toxicity. Hence the big 3 to be careful of; antioxidant toxicity supplements. Also, the term "Vitamin" and "antioxidant" seem to be increasingly used to describe the same substance, which can make it confusing when reading articles! It is interesting to note that, in the normal concentrations found in the body, vitamin C and beta-carotene are antioxidants; but at higher concentrations they are pro-oxidants and, thus, harmful. Also, very little is known about the long term consequences of megadoses of antioxidants,and toxic potential of antioxidant toxicity supplements. The body's finely tuned mechanisms are carefully balanced to withstand a variety of toxins, and insults. Taking chemicals without a complete understanding of all of their effects may disrupt this balance, therefore we are very pro getting nutrients from our foods, and natural food supplements, because whenever a nutrient is in its whole food matrix, the body utilizes it at much greater proficiency because all the other associated nutrients required for use in the body are present. Nutritional Supplements that use the whole food give us the best that we can get, because the ingredients can work in synergy! The combination of phytochemicals do the work as a team. No single antioxidant works, but as a team the combination of phytochemicals really work to prevent chronic disease including cancer and cardiovascular disease.
It fits with the message that nutritionists have been giving for a long time, go for the whole food rather than the supplements. However, no single compound has been shown to have protective effects by itself, so far the single antioxidant approach used to prevent chronic disease I think is disappointing. But the evidence from epidemiological studies has already provided a possible relationship between a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and the prevention of chronic disease. Aging results in a decrease in the amount of antioxidant enzymes which results in an increased risk for developing cancer and an increased incidence of immune impairment. Why Supplement with Antioxidants? We have looked at a lot of research presented, and the message that we receive is that antioxidants are best obtained from fresh uncooked fruit and vegetables. The sheer quantity and variety of fresh food varieties that provide these nutrients are not always available at the local fruit shop, so it becomes practicable to boost our nutrition with whole food supplements, rather than individual vitamins, as this appears to be where questions of toxicity are expressed, not in the actual fruit and vegetables. Exercise and oxidative damage Endurance exercise can increase oxygen utilization from 10 to 20 times over the resting state. This greatly increases the generation of free radicals, prompting concern about enhanced damage to muscles and other tissues. Can athletes defend against the increased free radicals resulting from exercise? Do athletes need to take extra antioxidants? Regular physical exercise enhances the antioxidant defense system and protects against exercise induced free radical damage. This is an important finding because it shows how smart the body is about adapting to the demands of exercise. On the other hand, intense exercise in untrained individuals overwhelms defenses resulting in increased free radical damage. Thus, the person who is predominantly sedentary during the week but engages in vigorous bouts of exercise during the weekend may be doing themselves more harm than good. The whole concept of toxicity arises when we unknowingly take a large and unbalanced amount of individual antioxidant. So always remember the big 3; antioxidant toxicity supplements.
|
