Why Antioxidants Don't Work

Antioxidants are everywhere these days! You just can't get away from the damn things. Every smoothie, face cream, body lotion, packet of anything, all have claims of being "packed full of antioxidants" on the side. Why?

It all begins with one of the leading theories for why we age, and that is the presence of some nasty little things called reactive oxygen species (ROS). These are molecules that are highly reactive with the cells in our bodies - although they are naturally produced. In times of stress, or in response to something like radiation, lots more of these molecules are produced and they release free electrons (also known as free radicals). Free radicals are the devil, and they end up bouncing around our cells, damaging the DNA and disrupting the cells' normal function, slowing down our responses and causing us to age.

Antioxidants were toted as a possible saviour for this. Normal antioxidants are able to absorb these free radicals and stop them from becoming a real problem. Once this was learned it seems everyone shouted "hallelujah!", and decided they were going to be the key to aging and curing disease (a big part of cancer is problems caused by ROS).

But since then there have been many clinical trials, and sadly, the news is not good. It was found that not only do the antioxidants appear to do nothing, in some cases it was found that they are actually harmful. Vitamins E, C and Beta Carotene are well-known antioxidants, and they have been tried and tested for their effects against all manner of diseases; heart disease, altitude sickness, gastrointestinal cancers, colon cancer, etc. In all the studies I have read (links below) there was no evidence supporting the theory that antioxidants may reduce mortality - in fact, in colon cancer the supplements were found to increase mortality.

Now it must be said, there is criticism of these findings by those that say the doses of antioxidants used in the trials were high, and that there are still many wonderful benefits that are thought to come from the naturally occurring antioxidants in fruit and vegetables- I do not doubt this for one minute. It is only when levels of antioxidants reach the levels found in supplements that there are possible adverse effects, of course there are hopefully journals out there that say otherwise. However, using antioxidants to treat/prevent chronic disease has now widely been ruled as a no.

It was, as my lecturer put it; "a big disappointment for the scientific community". And yet, I feel the presence of antioxidants everywhere! Vitamin E supplements were found to increase risk of all-cause mortality, especially in elderly patients, and yet they're all over the shelves of health shops and supermarkets. Although research is always ongoing and it is unfair to rule them out completely, it seems that word just hasn't gotten out yet, that antioxidants, whether in face cream, supplement or health drink form don't seem to be doing anything.

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Bjelakovic,et al. 2007  Randomised antioxidant trials
Baillie, et al. 2009 Acute mountain sickness
Jha, et al.1995 Cardiovascular disease
Miller, et al. 2005 Vitamin E all-cause mortality
Stanner, et al. 2004 British Nutrition Foundation review
Bjelakovic, et al. 2012 A systematic review (suggests supplements be considered medical products)