Saturday, January 03, 2009

Studies fail, not vitamins

Single antioxidants have far less power than mixtures of synergistic dietary nutrients, and both dietary and supplemental antioxidants should be considered to determine total antioxidant status before undertaking a well-designed clinical trial. Even the ability of most animals to synthesize their own vitamin C, which is not possible in humans, guinea pigs and some fruit-eating bats, affects one’s antioxidant status. The failure of most nutrient/supplement trails to consider these additional and critical variables casts most such studies in doubt, and is undoubtedly responsible for the conflicting and confusing results of so-called “gold standard” studies that are tarnished by the common failure to consider both nutrient sources and how nutrients interact. But that’s what happens when drug researchers attempt to study nutrients in the usual manner that they successfully use for pharmaceutical drugs. They simply do not understand or consider the additional variables, do not measure them or screen for them as variables, and thus fail to reach valid conclusions. Of course, the media parrots their triumphant press releases that nutrients are both dangerous and worthless. It makes me wonder why I bother to eat…

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