Posted on 01/26/2010 9:18:58 AM PST by decimon
Antioxidants increasingly have been praised for their benefits against disease and aging, but recent studies at Kansas State University show that they also can cause harm.
Researchers in K-State's Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory have been studying how to improve oxygen delivery to the skeletal muscle during physical activity by using antioxidants, which are nutrients in foods that can prevent or slow the oxidative damage to the body. Their findings show that sometimes antioxidants can impair muscle function.
"Antioxidant is one of those buzz words right now," said Steven Copp, a doctoral student in anatomy and physiology from Manhattan and a researcher in the lab. "Walking around grocery stores you see things advertised that are loaded with antioxidants. I think what a lot of people don't realize is that the antioxidant and pro-oxidant balance is really delicate. One of the things we've seen in our research is that you can't just give a larger dose of antioxidants and presume that there will be some sort of beneficial effect. In fact, you can actually make a problem worse."
David C. Poole and Timothy I. Musch, K-State professors from both the departments of kinesiology and anatomy and physiology, direct the Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory, located in the College of Veterinary Medicine complex. Researchers in the lab study the physiology of physical activity in health and disease through animal models. Copp and Daniel Hirai, an anatomy and physiology doctoral student from Manhattan working in the lab, have conducted various studies associated with how muscles control blood flow and the effects of different doses and types of antioxidants.
Abnormalities in the circulatory system, such as those that result from aging or a disease like chronic heart failure, can impair oxygen delivery to the skeletal muscle and increase fatigability during physical activity, Copp said. The researchers are studying the effects antioxidants could have in the process.
"If you have a person trying to recover from a heart attack and you put them in cardiac rehab, when they walk on a treadmill they might say it's difficult," Poole said. "Their muscles get sore and stiff. We try to understand why the blood cells aren't flowing properly and why they can't get oxygen to the muscles, as happens in healthy individuals."
Copp said there is a potential for antioxidants to reverse or partially reverse some of those changes that result from aging or disease. However, K-State's studies have shown that some of the oxidants in our body, such as hydrogen peroxide, are helpful to increase blood flow.
"We're now learning that if antioxidant therapy takes away hydrogen peroxide – or other naturally occurring vasodilators, which are compounds that help open blood vessels – you impair the body's ability to deliver oxygen to the muscle so that it doesn't work properly," Poole said.
Poole said antioxidants are largely thought to produce better health, but their studies have shown that antioxidants can actually suppress key signaling mechanisms that are necessary for muscle to function effectively.
"It's really a cautionary note that before we start recommending people get more antioxidants, we need to understand more about how they function in physiological systems and circumstances like exercise," Poole said.
Hirai said the researchers will continue to explore antioxidants and the effects of exercise training. Their studies are looking at how these can help individuals combat the decreased mobility and muscle function that comes with advancing age and diseases like heart failure.
"The research we do here is very mechanistic in nature, and down the road our aim is to take our findings and make recommendations for diseased and aging populations," Copp said.
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The researchers have published their recent findings in several journals, including the Journal of Applied Physiology, Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology, Microvascular Research, The American Journal of Physiology and Experimental Physiology.
The Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and intramural awards from the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Story of O ping.
Long ago in the old country it was part of a doctors secret combo for heart remedy.
Do some research on it, you'll be amazed.
Some day someone will come out with a study claiming too many studies can cause harm.
Interesting
So, do I keep eating my blueberries?
Eat all you want. Just be careful of the side effects.
I have heard that high doses of antioxidants can screw up the actions of some antibiotics. I think those antibiotics work by oxidizing action on the bacteria, so all those antioxidant fruits you eat to keep you healthy also keep your bacteria healthy.
And don’t even get me started on dihydrogen monoxide!
Yeah, sure, you're not using those muscles anyway. ;-)
Not sure if they're talking about small amounts occurring naturally. I think they mean additives but that's just a guess.
Long as you can reach them, I guess.
Wouldn't think of it. You're a pisser as is.
Anti-oxidants are over rated. Not that they aren’t good for you, but it looks like large quantities of them might inhibit the body’s own production of antioxidants. So like your grandmother told you, everything in moderation.
Chocolate? I’ll NEVER give up chocolate for my health.
I admit it. I only scanned the article, however, my 1st thought was “antioxidant” is a pretty broad term. Wonder what combination of antioxidants they’re studying? At what dosages? Are they varying 1000 mg of C with 19 mgs of E, for instance, or 500/C & 10/E and how long was the study? What was the criteria for participants? Do all antioxidants have the same effect or only certain ones? I really wish these press releases would be a little more specific. I’m a sucker for studies, too. I read a lot of them. I’m always cautiously optimistic.
My grandmother didn’t tell me that...she told me that the Kaiser took her hat.
I think she had Alzheimer’s....
I’ve been taking grape seed extract anti-oxidants since 1996. My bad cholesterol dropped 20 points and my good cholesterol zoomed 20 twenty points. My doctor says that he’s never seen an adult male with HDL above 56. Mine routinely tests in the 60 to 65 range.
I have a family history of hypercholesterolemia and family heart attacks in members between 40 and 50. I had a scan a few months ago (I’m 47) and they were shocked to report that I have no blockages in my coronary system.
The Cardioliogist told me that whatever it is I’m doing to keep doing it.
I’m expecting to hear, next, that antioxidants are powerful carcinogins.
Along with Vitamin D, grape based antioxidants (like Resveratrol) have found great favor in the scientific community as of late. Some of the few supplements that seem to really have an easily demonstrable positive effect.
Niacin also has an extremely good effect on the level and balance of cholesterol, presuming that you don’t mind the skin flushing. Taking quercetin about 45 minutes - 1 hours before the niacin, and taking the niacin on a full stomach, will ameliorate the effects.
I seriously question “studies” that damn “anti-oxidants.” Not because the anti-oxidants are the Fountain of Youth, but because usually those studies are funded by drug companies or medical schools that have an interest in keeping people dependent upon doctors and prescription drugs. That’s NOT to say that any particular study must be wrong because I don’t like the conclusion, only that one must first look at who (or what institution) has funded a study before further examining the methods used to determine its validity.
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