Antioxidant Dietary Supplements - Get The Lowdown
Do we need antioxidant dietary supplements?
Study after study has revealed no real benefit to taking antioxidant dietary supplements. With antioxidants being found in many widely available foods, we have the ability to gather enough antioxidant intake not to warrant taking extra supplements.
In fact, an American Heart Association study in 2004 revealed that there is reason at all for people to take antioxidant dietary supplements. They found that people taking antioxidant supplements had no greater benefits than those who did not. In some cases, those taking supplements even had adverse reactions.
My advice is to forget antioxidant dietary supplements and to concentrate on eating as many antioxidant rich foods as you possibly can. We have many mentioned here on this website, there certainly is no shortage!
Many antioxidant dietary supplements are simply just vitamins - which are essentially what antioxidants are anyway. So it may be that you are taking vitamin supplements and therefore boosting your antioxidant level - this is fine as the vitamins may be contributing to your health if you are lacking any in your diet.
Although I don't recommend taking supplements purely for antioxidant boosting reasons, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking multivitamins or individual vitamin supplements.
Beta-carotene, Vitamin E and Vitamin C are the antioxidant providing vitamins. Increasing any or all of these vitamins in your diet, either naturally through food or through dietary supplements, will have a great benefit on your health, energy levels and physical appearance - antioxidants improve your skin condition and assist in good heart and cell health.
So next time you hear about the latest antioxidant dietary supplement, take a closer look at the ingredients and you might just find you can gain all that and more by simple eating the right foods.