Antioxidants: who needs 'em?

The name antioxidants implies that they are against oxidants. But why would you be anti-oxidant? Is there anyone out there who is pro-oxidant?


Let's start with the basics:


As your body works and metabolizes fuel (makes energy) it also produces reactive oxygen species, or ROS. Not to be confused with ROUS's (I don't even believe they exist). You may have also heard of them as Free Radicals. Your body makes them all the time during metabolism and when your metabolic needs increase when you are more active your ROS production increases too. Whatever the name is, most people agree that it is good to keep them in check. You see, generally your body oxidizes metabolites in order to break them down. Oxygen, as you may have inferred by the theme in naming here, is really good at oxidizing. The problem is when you have ROS attacking things in your body that they shouldn't attack...like your cells.


An antioxidant, then, is something that gets oxidized to stop your body from being damaged by getting oxidized. Some common simple antioxidants include Vitamin C and Vitamin E but there are many more that the body uses. In some ways it makes an antioxidant like a bodyguard taking a bullet for you.


The theory behind supplementing antioxidants is pretty sound, try and stop the dangerous ROS flying around by upping the number of body guards (antioxidants) in the system. But the proof is a bit lacking.


If we move on to the current evidence we see:


One study in Spain (M.E. Munoz et al. / Toxicology 278 (2010) 101–111) published recently, showed that there was a benefit for elderly exercisers whose body's natural defense mechanisms were a little worn out. But then again these participants were sedentary to begin with and the study was sponsored by the antioxidant drink that the participants were taking during the study.


Another study done by University of Wisconsin-Madison said the opposite, that perhaps helping your body deal with antioxidants stops your body from making other good adaptations to exercise. Most benefits from exercise actually come from stressing your body which includes the production of ROS. When you let your body recover from this stress, your body generally rebuilds itself as strong or stronger than before which is what allows for increased performance. Yet another more recent study in Germany echoed these findings by showing that exercisers who supplemented with antioxidants had less of an increase in insulin sensitivity than exercisers who did not take antioxidants. That means that antioxidant supplementation could actually decrease the effectiveness of exercise for managing Type 2 diabetes.


Finally, the idea of taking antioxidants as a daily supplement or in your multivitamin has lost a little bit of its credence since an article in JAMA came out that showed daily doses of antioxidant substances ranging from beta-carotene to Vitamin E may actually do more harm than good as a preventative measure.


The conclusion:


...a bit fuzzy. Antioxidants have reached craze status, this is confirmed by the fact that the word antioxidants has become a marketing catch phrase and is plastered all over everything from breakfast cereal to green tea. The science behind them is convincing, but as it turns out your body is pretty good at managing on its own.


Even in an event like an Ironman Triathlon, where there is a very significant increase in ROS production, healthy well trained athletes "experience no adverse health risks regarding oxidative stress" (Toxicology. 2010 Dec 5;278(2):211-6. Epub 2009 Sep 18). So for all of you endurance athletes out there who see Lance Armstrong drinking FRS in the commercials, don't be too quick to join the antioxidant party.


As with all fitness fads, it's best to give it a little time before following the crowd. That allows the scientists some time to straighten out the theory from the practice. And don't think the decision here is final. I'm sure it will be some time before this all really gets figured out and we stop going back and forth on what we think is best. Until then I'd say it's best to stick with what has lasted the test of time. Let your body do what it's been made to do by training regularly. It'll give you the jump on ROS you're looking for instead of dumping in extra unnecessary antioxidant supplements and relying on those to do the work for you. Then again, that's just my opinion and I'm no professional... at least not yet.