Antioxidant Supplements: Waste of Money?

Maybe we should be focusing on getting our diet right rather than use supplements as an excuse to eat poorly.

The only reason to take supplements should be 1/ To get you back to square 1 if you have deficiencies from years of poor eating. 2/ To fill in the gaps where even the healthiest of modern diets can be deficient due to pollution (PCB and dioxins in fish) or hygiene (B12) or ethical choices (Vit D if you're not getting enough sunlight or live in northern climes) etc.

Since science is still studying nutrition we can conclude they don't have all the answer. Therefore stick to nature which has a multi million year track record of getting it right :).

~Mike.

Sorry Jim... that was your point wasn't it. Ooops... er... I guess I'm agreeing with you! Have a nice day :)

Today is Linus Pauling's birthday! :-)
http://scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/happy-birthday-linus.html

Hey it is my husband's birthday too. I didn't know he shared a birthday with a great man. Beats me, cause I share mine with... Whoopi Goldberg, hehe.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Jan!!!!!!!! Have a great one!!

Thanks, Dr. J. And I'll take some extra C in honor of Linus Pauling.

Check out www.mhtoday.menshealth.com for a more balanced take on the antioxidant scare. This is the same old scare that gets trucked out every few months (generally coinciding with pharmaceutical/FDA scandals). This is the third time in the last year that this piece - in near-identical detail, no less - has made the sensational news circuit. There are loads of problems with this type of presentation of a meta-review. To wit: meta-anaysis is the weakest form of scientific study. Meta-analysis of multiple types of studies, most of which are questionnaires, query-based and/or studying terminally ill or extremely unhealthy quartiles, are even less valuable. I could go on, but the point is, don't be scared about antioxidants. They may not be miraculous (nothing is), but they won't kill ya. A isn't an antioxidant to begin with, and we all know too much is unhealthy. The E studied is a single type of E (the junk kind you find in those OTC gel caps), but there are actually 8 types of E (similar to how there are many types of B and you need them all). C is fine. You get the idea...
Cheers from the health hacks at www.marksdailyapple.com.

I get tired of some of these studies and even more tired of our own interpretations. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone can find something to suit their agenda.

In the mean time consumers part with millions of dollars.

Supplements are a complete waste of money.

It doesn't take an FDA study to figure that out. It's sad and bemusing that the supplement industry gets away with scamming a TON of people that are gullible enough to piss their hard earned money down the toilet by orally ingesting synthetic vitamins that are useless at best.

Butt hay...it's not the supplement industry's fault that people are as smart as truck mud flaps.

Mousefinger: How about supplements extracted from real food? For example, what about dessicated liver, powdered kelp, cod liver oil, etc?

I agree with both Mousefinger and Ryan to some degree and with the original point made in the post - different supplements, from different sources vary massively in quality. I truly believe that you get what you pay for, and that there is huge room for being ripped off.

However, the original comment is the one that resonates most with me, along with Jim's point of "Could that money be better spent on whole foods?". This is spot on - you should be spending your money on good quality fresh produce first and foremost and as your most important health goal.

Supplements are there to supplement, not replace.

Throwing supplements down in an attempt to balance out an otherwise unhealthy lifestyle will deliver no results.

In my opinion, of course ;)

Have a great day
Ross

Ross said it: "supplements are there to supplement, not replace." I think people who exercise heavily DO require additional supplementation unlike sedentary people - you just cannot ingest that much food in one day. But this study irritates me on another level. The AMA has been trying to mandate that vitamins only be available via Rx for years....and this is just another scare tactic, in my opinion, to push their agenda. And, as usual, the media plays along...

The article says right there, "no effect on mortality". I for one don't take supplements to live longer, I take them to feel better/ more energetic on a daily basis. I don't care if it will add a day to my life expectancy.

Sara said:
Check out www.mhtoday.menshealth.com for a more balanced take on the antioxidant scare. This is the same old scare that gets trucked out every few months (generally coinciding with pharmaceutical/FDA scandals). This is the third time in the last year that this piece - in near-identical detail, no less - has made the sensational news circuit. There [...]

I agree with you Sara

This study has so many loopholes in it and many question marks like: the exclusion of studies that had no mortlity of the subjects during or after the study, not separating the primary and secondary prevention factors, the fact that they never interviewed a signle patient !!

To me, i feel that they went into this to prove that antioxidant vitamins don't work, and made it so, using statistical tools (statistics can be manipulated to prove anything you want)

I still use my antioxidant vitamins to help me complete a healthy diet.

I will also continue to recommend taking them, as they helped me regulate my cholesterol level and improved my energy.

However, It is important not to buy just any antioxidant supplement. I recommend licolife from newcells. here's their website:
newcells

Keep healthy everyone
Jane