Food complements/Antioxydants

Food complements/Antioxydants

The antioxydants caused much passion. These nutrients protect the organization from damage due to the “free radicals”, from made up produced by toxins of the environment and the normal mechanisms of the organization. The free radicals can damage the cells everywhere in the organization. Many were the declarations about the benefits of antioxydants on your health, among which a protection against the cardiac diseases, the cancer and the disease of Alzheimer. The vitamins C and E, beta-carotene (vitamin A) and selenium are antioxydants on which one carried out many research.

Early studies proved that the people who consumed many fruits and of vegetables – rich foods in antioxydants – are less likely than the people who avoided this food developing the diseases in question. In addition, one compared people taking antioxydant pills already with others not having never had recourse to supplements. This time still, the antioxydants seemed to confer a certain protection. But did they really do it? By looking at more closely the results of this research, it is probable that the people who decide to eat fruits and vegetables in great quantity, or to take supplements, make in fact plus attention with their health that those which do neither one nor the other. This reality could consequently explain these impressive results. Moreover, the fruits and the vegetables contain much more nutrients than the few antioxydants than we know.

The best studies remain the “clinical trials” during which one prescribes, randomly, either of antioxydants, or a placebo (a factitious drug), with the participants. In this way, all that differentiates the two groups from participants, it is the catch, or not, of antioxydants, without them knowing it themselves (nor, generally, researchers besides). In fact, it proves that the last clinical trials carried out on the supplements of vitamins C, E and beta-carotene did not reveal that the latter protected from the diseases of the heart nor of cancer. In several studies, the smokers of the group having taken the beta-carotene pills ran a stronger risk to contract lung cancer than the smokers having taken the placebo. Researchers of Université John Hopkins carried out méta-analyzes (study of research which gathers the results of the best studies) in order to examine the effects of the supplements of vitamin E on the risk of death. Méta-analyzes showed that the people taking of strong amounts of vitamin E (400 UI or more per day) presented a risk of increased death (approximately 4 additional deaths by group of 1000 people taking of the vitamin E to these amounts). The researchers noticed that the majority of the studies on the strong amounts of vitamin E were carried out at people reached of chronic diseases and it is thus impossible to know if these results apply to people in good health.

Many research is always in hand to settle this question. Meanwhile, we must recognize that mom was right: “the fruits and the vegetables, they is good for health! ”, then eat!