Antioxidant Supplements Not All Good

[liveonearth]

A new study shows that taking 1000mg vitamin C and 400 IU's vitamin E per day may prevent exercise from increasing one's insulin sensitivity. The mechanism is not yet known. There are also studies out there that indicate that taking high doses of vitamin E may hasten death, also through an unknown mechanism.

--Michael Ristow, http://www.mristow.org/
--University of Jena in Germany
--n = 40
--20 take 1000 mg vitamin C and 400 international units of vitamin E per day
--all 40 exercise for 85 minutes a day, five days a week, for four weeks
--after 4 weeks took muscle biopsies to test for free radicals
--people not taking antiox supps show 2x increase in TBARS
--TBARS = thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, marks free radicals
--people taking antioxidants show no TBARS increase
--above as expected, below is surprise finding:
--exercisers not taking antioxidants show significant increase in insulin sensitivity
--exercisers taking antioxidants show no change in insulin sensitivity

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903485106)

SOURCES:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17108-vitamin-supplements-may-cut-benefits-of-exercise.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6653-high-doses-of-vitamin-e-may-hasten-death.html