• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

The Case Against Antioxidants

Existing research provides evidence that a diet high in antioxidants can cause harm to health levels, rather than boost them.

Sam MacIntosh

Written by Sam MacIntosh Last updated on July 21, 2016

There are millions of nutritional products in the West that tout “health-boosting” antioxidant properties, particularly in athletic populations. But two European professors analyzed the evidence behind this assumption in a recent review published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. Their findings have produced a clear warning: do not take these supplements unless a clear deficiency in antioxidants is diagnosed by a healthcare professional.

What Are Antioxidants Anyway?

Science tells us that humans use oxygen to produce energy, and with oxygen comes the potential to generate free radicals in the body which can cause oxidative stress and disease. As athletes tend to have a higher consumption of oxygen in their training, oxidative stress risk is seen of particular significance to fitness enthusiasts and competitors. And for good reason.

Markers of oxidative stress have been correlated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and many other serious health conditions. The nutritional market soon recognized this, and the rise of “anti”-oxidising foods and big “High in Antioxidants!” stickers on the front of every punnet of berries known to man began. Antioxidant supplements in particular are taken by millions, though none tested in randomized clinical trials have demonstrated any benefit to human health or performance.

The leaders of this review sought a clear verdict for the role of antioxidants in human health. They could find none, and even noted that existing research provides more evidence that a diet high in antioxidants can cause harm to health levels, rather than boost them. They also point out that free radicals perform many important functions in the body such as immune defence and hormone synthesis, and antioxidants can actually interfere with these process by targeting healthy and disease-triggering oxygen molecules.

This corroborates previous studies done on athletic populations that suggest antioxidants’ negative effect on our bodies’ adaptation to exercise in controlled performance tests. The professors chairing the review finally note that oxidative stress can be of significance in some conditions – but only in a small proportion of patients, and alternative therapies that just target the triggers of disease are available in those cases.

If you’re concerned about free radicals and their effect on your health, oxidative stress tests are available from health professionals. But it seems that for athletes in general, the jury is still out on antioxidants and their role in supporting your training.

Sam MacIntosh

About Sam MacIntosh

Sam MacIntosh is a writer, editor, and a British Weightlifting and Precision Nutrition certified coach.

Sam played football from her pre-teens through to university, briefly switching to rugby when she was 25. It was then that she was introduced to strength training and weightlifting by a teammate and began training in CrossFit in late 2013. Shortly after, Chet Morjaria of Strength Education took her on as a powerlifting athlete and coached her to first in her weight class at the 2014 Welsh Powerlifting Open. She now trains in Olympic weightlifting and is the head barbell coach at CrossFit Gain in Norwich, England.

Sam is passionate about empowering athletes to think independently and neutralising nutritional propaganda. She's a recovering perfectionist, and enjoys coffee, books, and cinnamon donuts. You can connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

Hugh Jackman Deadpool 3 Workouts Spring:Winter 2023
Hugh Jackman Returns to Wolverine Condition in Workouts for “Deadpool 3”
Method Man Incline Dumbbell Presses December 2022
Check Out Rapper Method Man Cruising Through 120-Pound Incline Dumbbell Presses for 10 Reps
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Leg Workout
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Crushes 5 “Monster Sets” of a Leg Workout
Michael B. Jordan poster for Creed III
Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors Look Like Shredded Boxing Stars in “Creed III”

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Evie Corrigan (52KG) Sets IPF Raw World Record Total of 460 Kilograms (1,014.1 Pounds)

Legendary Ronnie Coleman Explains the Four Bodybuilding Poses That Built His Career

2023 Clash On The Coast Results — Sumer Johnson and Andrew Clayton Triumphant

Jay Cutler Believes Bodybuilding’s Men’s Open is Returning to Its Greatest Era

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About