Do Antioxidant Supplements Really Increase The Death Rate?

Well, hardly, but a “shocking” report in the Journal of the American Medical Association says so. [Journal American Medical Assn 297: 842-57, Feb. 28, 2007] A pooled analysis of 68 published studies says the mortality rate was insignificantly affected by antioxidant supplementation (vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, beta carotene and selenium), but the headlines will say otherwise, pointing to a group of 47 better-quality studies within the 68 which showed a relative 16% increase in mortality rates (range 5% to 29%), even claiming the slight insignificant increase in mortality poses a substantial risk to supplement users. Here is the statistical difference in the studies analyzed: there were 15,366 deaths among 99,095 subjects who took antioxidants (15.50%) versus 9131 deaths among 81,343 subjects who did not take antioxidant supplements (11.22%), for a difference in hard numbers of 4.28% (not the 16% relative number used in news headlines). The problem in so-called meta-analyses like these is that there are so many pitfalls, which the researchers admit to, that they become meaningless. Many of the studies are comprised of people who are sick or of advanced age. It could be that the older and more ill subjects take more dietary supplements.

None of the 24 well-designed studies that employed vitamin C used staggered doses that would significantly maintain high blood levels. Most vitamin C studies used a one-time dose, which only elevates blood levels for a short while. Steve Hickey, PhD, Manchester University graduate, has explained that the half-life of vitamin C is rapid, and as a water-soluble nutrient, effective supplementation requires repeated dosing – 500 mg five times a day for optimal blood levels. We know that there are groups that are deficient, such as smokers who destroy 25 milligrams of the body’s pool of vitamin C for every cigarette smoked. The Journal of the American Medical Association report neglected to report that, except for supplement users, the American population does not consume the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin E, an estimated 16-23% of Americans are deficient in vitamin C and virtually all Americans are deficient in vitamin C if compared to animals who synthesize their own vitamin C in their liver or kidneys.

Furthermore, the ineffectiveness of antioxidant supplements should be anticipated posed against the American diet which continually overwhelms the inborn and dietary antioxidant defense system. Over consumption of hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup and iron fortified foods, are difficult to counter. No iron-binding antioxidants, such as those found in grapes, olives, berries and tea, were analyzed in the recent study. Last year the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that green tea consumption lowers all-cause mortality rates, a health benefit that increases with increasing intake of green tea (from 1 to 5 cups a day). [Journal American Medical Assn 2006 Sep 13; 296(10):1255-65] Green tea binds iron. Red wine, which includes resveratrol (a copper chelator) has been found to reduce mortality by 31% and for women by 18%. [Alcohol Alcoholism 2006 Nov-Dec;41(6):664-71] Wine drinkers have a 20-30% reduced mortality rate compared to alcohol abstainers. [Drugs Experimental Clinical Research 2003; 29(5-6):173-9] -Copyright 2007 Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc.

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