Are You Overdosing On Healthy?
Posted by VickyC on January 27th, 2010
I feel like I need to create a chart on healthy vs unhealthy vs deadly, because I’m getting very confused over here.
Ok, so in latest health news, if you’ve been ingesting a whole ton of antioxidants in an attempt to fast-track your way to good health, then put down the green tea and goji berries and keep reading. Nutritionists have been pushing the idea that anything “antioxidant” is magical and really extra super good for your health. These foods were believed to lower the risks of cancer, lengthen life and allegedly can lead to better sex!
But new studies by the Cardiorespiratory Exercise Lab at Kansas State University have revealed that too many antioxidants makes the chemicals in the body unbalanced. The body needs antioxidants and pro-oxidants (essentially the evil twin of antioxidants) in order to maintain a balance. So a lack of pro-oxidants can lead to the body crying out for the missing pro-oxidants. So downing too much green tea and popping too many blueberries is actually not a good thing.
In the last few years, the word “antioxidant” has become a buzz word. Everyone has been jumping onto the health food bandwagon. But these new studies are claiming to show that although antioxidants can slow down and even reverse some effects of aging, some of the changes that the body go through are not good.
One of the main points in the study was to show that the antioxidants hinder the way that blood flows by taking out vasodilators – which are chemicals that help open the blood vessels. As you can imagine, this is not good for the body! In older people, this results in individuals getting out of breath quicker, which in turn stops them from exercising.
One of the researchers behind this study, Steven Copp, said that antioxidant therapy takes away hydrogen peroxide (a naturally occurring vasodilator) which can impair the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles. This causes muscles to be sore and for individuals to get tired easily when exercising – because the muscles are being starved of oxygen.
Copp says that his findings should be treated as cautionary. Antioxidants and their functions and effects need to be studied more in order for nutritionists to recommend certain foods to their patients.
I think the “everything in moderation” is applicable to this.
Tags: Antioxidants, Blackberries, Dangerous, Deadly, Goji Berries, Green Tea, Harmful, Health, Kansas State University, Muscle, Nutritionists, Pro-oxidants, Research, Unhealthy, vasodilator, VickyC, VickyC.me
Yes, everything in moderation is a good rule to follow with regards to health and nutrition. I think this is a smart approach to life in general.