May 13, 2009

Weird Study: Antioxidant Vitamins Mess With Exercise?



This is just quick research note without even an attempt at any humor.

But don't worry, there is also a "100% research-free" item just below, with no useful information in it at all!

So for your recommended daily allowance of Cranky Fitness silliness, simply take both these together with a large glass of water, and you should get all the benefits of a "normal" post! Warning: do not attempt to drive your car or operate heavy machinery while under the influence of Cranky Fitness. May cause extreme drowsiness, skepticism, stomach irritation, and/or high blood pressure.

Anyway, so did anyone see the WTF headline in the New York Times health section yesterday: Vitamins Found to Curb Exercise Benefits?


More specifically, taking antioxidants (in this case vitamins C and E) seemed to interfere with the benefits you get from exercise. These pills apparently eliminate the improved insulin sensitivity you're supposed to get from doing the huffy-puff stuffy. And the supplements also seemed to mess with the body’s natural defenses to oxidative damage.

“If you exercise to promote health, you shouldn’t take large amounts of antioxidants,” one of the study's authors, Michael Ristow, said. The effect of vitamins on exercise and glucose metabolism “is really quite significant.”

Fortunately, the study author said this is just the case with antioxidant supplements, and does not mean you have to choose between your cauliflower and your cardio. You can still get antioxidants from fruits and vegetables because "the many other substances they contain presumably outweigh any negative effect."

A write-up of the vitamin and exercise study over at WebMd offers a bit more helpful detail: half of the men took 500 milligrams of vitamin C twice daily and 400 international units of vitamin E daily. The other guys got placebo pills.

Of course a spokesman for the supplement industry cautioned that one shouldn't take any one study too seriously!

Which is true, but also kinda funny, because they never seem to emphasize that point when it's a study saying that some supplement does some fantastic thing for your health.

While I don't take specific C or E supplements, this does make me wonder about my daily low-dose, cover-all-the-bases multi-vitamin. I still haven't decided what to do. Give it up? Just take it less often? Wait for another study to clarify if this effect is even real?

What about you folks, would this study result change anything you're doing or have you already ditched the pills?

30 comments:

  1. argh studies! I stay away from supplements all together, mostly because I assume most of what I need I am getting through my food...otherwise my body will tell me..i hope anyway :)

    rupal

    ReplyDelete
  2. it doesn't change one damn thing in my workout. i've been taking GNC Women's Ultra Mega® Active Vitapak® and since then, i've seen more weight loss results than without it. also, and as a type ii diabetic, i've seen my blood sugar readings improve not only after workouts, but stablized overnight readings in the mornings after i've had a good workout the night before.

    my blood work at my docs this past month also passed with flying colors, finding me deficient in NOTHING, where before, i needed more this or that, so to me, all these "studies" are all irrelevant when i know what works for me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. interesting Cranky! Id not seen this and am totally seizing it as the reason Im too lazy to supplement with many vitamins.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I try not to read any of these studies. As you've stated so many times before, a new one will come along to change everything once again. New curves. New downsides. Nah. Follow common sense and do what you believe is best for you. So, pass the cupcakes, please?

    ReplyDelete
  5. As a result of this post, when I miss a workout, I'll claim it's because I need to take my vitamins.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not gonna change anything with me! I take a multi and a calcium/magnesium supplement and that is it. Multi because even though I eat well, I do work out A LOT so.. and I also can't do milk products so I take the calcium supplement. Even when I took more antioxidant supplements, did not seem to hinder anything for me!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm with R--I get what I need from my food, and don't take vitamins or supplements. I also pay very little attention to studies. They're like statistics--in most cases, the people running a study get the answers they expect. How useful is that?

    ReplyDelete
  8. My favorite part of this post was when you wrote "huffy, puffy, stuffy."

    ReplyDelete
  9. I take these studies with a grain of salt (there goes my blood pressure). I still drink coffee, eat bacon and eggs and talk while walking - all things I've been cautioned about but yet I've survived. I did kick the ciggie-boos as it was hard to argue with that. But I do miss them - and the size 8 I used to be when I would substitute my meals with them and some high octane coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now I have a research headache. I've long wondered about the multi-vitamin "wisdom." Anything broken out from its original source can't be as good as the whole food, you know?

    I'm also curious as to how {cher} above got the registered trademark symbol to show up in her comment. I have tried SO many times, to no avail...

    ReplyDelete
  11. You got to wonder about who funds these studies. I recently read that a study can be manipulated to provide "data" to support any theory. I'll just keep taking what I take, although I've already weaned off many of what I **was** taking ... with this new diet and all. Vee at www.veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm sure there'll be a study along shortly showing precisely the opposite.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Interesting study but I still take a supplement when I remember. Is there a supplement to help with memory loss?

    I think your warning for the post should also have "Keep cranky fitness away from children." LOL

    ReplyDelete
  14. I take loads of C for its antihistamine properties. Is it ok if I just exercise for Fun instead of Health? (looking back at motivation--I don't need to be motivated to just take a walk. I need motivation to drive somewhere to safely take a walk, or to substitute something indoors so I don't breathe the pollen. I don't need to be motivated to eat healthy food that tastes good. Can't we just Have Fun?)

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

    ReplyDelete
  15. Those supplemental antioxidants sure have been getting a beating lately, haven't they? I typically take my multi at breakfast, right after my workout. Hmm. Wonder if I should rethink that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hmmm, another study to think about. I take a handful of supplements, including a once a day multivitamin. (No specific c or e supplements however.) I don't think I'm going to change my routine (either workout or supplement) because of this study, but I'll definitely keep an eye on the conversation.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The only thing I "take" is Cod liver oil and black strap molasses. Maybe the supplements work, maybe not. I do know that most of them make my stomach hurt, so i finally just gave them up completely.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well that's strange. I'll continue to take my multivitamin and my chances, lol!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kelly- there IS a supplement that helps with memory loss- Fish oil. It also helps with about a million other things, good stuff. I should start taking it ><

    as far as antioxidants go-> I was JUST reading about this yesterday in the book i was reading "Spark". Awesome book about exercise and how it effects the brain ( READ IT!!). Apparently these negative effects are only found in the supplements, the natural antioxidants you get in things like red wine, broccoli and chocolate of course are supposed to be just fine for you!

    ReplyDelete
  20. of course you already said like half of that. I should lay off the caffeine.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Rayna, as far as I'm concerned you can't ever say "drink red wine and eat dark chocolate" too often!

    I keep meaning to read Spark, thanks for reminding me!

    ReplyDelete
  22. A year or two ago I was getting sick every couple months. I think I had four colds in a six month period, and they were all bad. Once I started taking a multivitamin, I get sick once or twice a year. So I think it was my body telling me I wasn't getting something in my diet (even if I do normally eat mostly healthy food).

    I made sure to get one of the vitamins that doesn't have more than 100% of daily value. Even if it's water soluble, you never know what study they're going to come out with next saying such and such is bad for you. So why bother consuming more than a 100%. I seriously don't understand why they include 4000% of some of the vitamins in those things.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I agree, Crabby! I read the NYT headline and went "huh?" Then I read the article and went "duh!" (Hey, first thing in the morning my vocabulary's not very extensive.)

    I don't think a lonely little multi-vitamin once a day will hurt. The study talked about people who took larger doses of specific vitamins, which rarely makes sense to me.

    Most studies, once you read the fine print, are refinements of earlier studies. And if you have two studies that directly contradict one another, look at the way the studies were conducted.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I managed to find and read the original study. For what it's worth, I do skip some days, but do take supplements, especially C and E. They used 1000 C in two doses, and 400 E daily for the study. Half took them for one month. Tested one week later. I still am nt totally clear on the results, but I suspect if you are fit, and have a decent diet, it is not significant. If you are not fit and pre diabetic or diabetic, there may be some adjustments you need to consider. That's the best I've got at this point.

    ReplyDelete
  25. that's okay... in about 6 months or so we'll see another study reversing the findings... again :)

    gp

    ReplyDelete
  26. I used to take a multi-vitamin, but ended up with a rash, so stopped it. I now take glucosmine, vitamin c and calcium every a.m. and p.m. I also exercise, and haven't really found that those vitamins change anything that I do. If I don't keep up with the huffy-puffy stuff, I'm afraid there'll be a huge weight gain that I won't be able to get rid of!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Since a lot of the vitamin you take just passes through your body anyway (doesn't it? I think I've read research going both ways), maybe cut it in half and take half a multi each day? Then you can feel better because you're taking less (but actually absorbing the same)!
    All I take is a multi a couple times a week when I think of it. I like to think of it as a safeguard against bad days, but I definitely think my diet covers all my bases regardless. I think a mult is probably fine (you could always look at the amount of C and E in them though).
    -Karell

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love it when studies support my theories! Well, this one doesn't specifically do that, but supports not taking vitamins. I disagree with taking them at all. Allegedly the body struggles to absorb very much from pills which is why the dosage is so high. So I try to get lots of variety with my food instead.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I also stay away from most supplements unless it is a food that is too expensive or hard to get--like reishi, maitake, and cordyceps mushrooms for immunity. If you can get it from food, do, and then you don't have to worry about it interfering with anything. Spend the money on good, fresh, organic produce not on supplements.

    Jen Boda
    Boda Weight Loss Blog

    ReplyDelete
  30. The only supplement I take on a regular basis -- and only in the winter -- is vitamin D. And that's on the recommendation of my dr after looking at blood values. Like Miz, I'm too lazy to do anything else, and like rupal, I'm hoping what I eat supplies what I need. Who really knows, though, either way?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting, Cranky Fitness readers are the BEST!

Subscribe to comments via RSS

(Note: Older Comment Threads Are Moderated)