| Antioxidants and Weight Loss: More Harm than Benefit ? |
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| Written by Richard L. Lipman M.D. |
| Tuesday, 24 March 2009 13:22 |
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March 24, 2009: Antioxidants: Benefit vs. Harm
Anti-oxidants may not prolong your life, but in fact may actually be harmful says all of the recent evidence.They certainly do not help any weight loss program. Jane E. Brody a science writer for the New York Times writes about the emerging scientific evidence that there is little benefit from taking Vitamin E or C in her March 24, 2009 article in the New York Times. She carefully reviews all of the emerging evidence that antioxidants may actually increase heart failure and not protect against strokes or heart attacks.
She notes that recent studies over the past 4 years have demonstrated no benefit in preventing any forms of cancer or helping Alzheimer’s disease. She ends her review: “If only all those hopeful forecasts had turned out to be true. Just as a well-designed clinical trial disproved the notion that postmenopausal hormones could keep women heart-healthy, controlled clinical trials of vitamin E have found this supplement wanting, as well. The same is true of another antioxidant, vitamin C. Simply put there is no quick fix.”
More About Antioxidants:
Much as been written about the actions and benefits of anti-oxidants, but these studies are among first critical evalutions. Here is a summary of other studies reported by the National Cancer Institute's Factsheet:
"Massive large-scale clinical trials published in the 1990s reached differing conclusions about the effect of antioxidants on cancer. The studies examined the effect of beta-carotene and other antioxidants on cancer in different patient groups. However, beta-carotene appeared to have different effects depending upon the patient population. The conclusions of each study are summarized below.
• The first large randomized trial on antioxidants and cancer risk was the Chinese Cancer Prevention Study, published in 1993. This trial investigated the effect of a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium on cancer in healthy Chinese men and women at high risk for gastric cancer. The study showed a combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and selenium significantly reduced incidence of both gastric cancer and cancer overall. • A 1994 cancer prevention study entitled the Alpha-Tocopherol (vitmain E)/Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study (ATBC) demonstrated that lung cancer rates of Finnish male smokers increased significantly with beta-carotene and were not affected by vitamin E. • Another 1994 study, the Beta-Carotene and Retinol (vitamin A) Efficacy Trial (CARET), also demonstrated a possible increase in lung cancer associated with antioxidants. • The 1996 Physicians' Health Study I (PHS) found no change in cancer rates associated with beta-carotene and aspirin taken by U.S. male physicians. • The 1999 Women's Health Study (WHS) tested effects of vitamin E and beta-carotene in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease among women age 45 years or older. Among apparently healthy women, there was no benefit or harm from beta-carotene supplementation. Investigation of the effect of vitamin E is ongoing." This fact sheet also includes on going studies and those to be reported in the next few years. |
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 September 2009 16:12 |
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