Antioxidants: Remind Me Why I Need Them?
Noel Peterson, N.D.
Need a few good reasons to take antioxidants, the nutrients that fight free radicals in our bodies? Here are just a few recent studies to add to the thousands of studies that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that antioxidants are good for you. If you want to know whether the antioxidant dose you are currently taking is doing the job, we can test you with a simple and inexpensive test to detect a chemical formed by oxidation and free radical activity. All that is required is a morning urine sample. Happy reading!
An Apple A Day?
A fresh apple has the antioxidant potential of 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C, according to researchers at Cornell University. Though not a high source of vitamin C itself, an apple is a rich source of compounds that have potent antioxidant activity in the body. Nature 405:903-4, 2000
Selenium Intake Losing Ground
Selenium intakes have dropped 50% in the past 20 years, according to researchers at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. When people were supplemented with 50 micrograms of selenium, they had an increase in immune function within two weeks. Clinical Science 98:593-99, 2000
Open Your Heart (and Your Veins)
Increased antioxidant intake helps prevent poor circulation in the legs of people with cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki. American Journal of Epidemiology 151:892-901, 2000
Look at Vitamin C
It turns out that vitamin C protects the eye's cornea from ultraviolet radiation. The cornea concentrates vitamin C 14 times the levels found in other eye tissues, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic. Investigative Opthamology 41:1681-83, 2000
Free Radicals Bring You Down's
Researchers at University College in London have confirmed that free radical activity plays a role in Down's Syndrome. Theoretically, increased intake of antioxidants may offset this damage. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 42:207-13, 2000
Eat Your Colors
People who consume lots of colorful antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables are at lower risk for developing several types of cancer, say researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. International Journal of Cancer 87:133-40, 2000