In the upcoming Archives of Internal Medicine a study was published that seemingly negates the benefits of antioxidant nutrients, especially when it comes to the prevention of cardiovascular disease.  It was a large scale study with over 8,000 women being looked at over a greater than 9 year period and the findings were likely very accurate, that antioxidant supplements do not prevent coronary heart disease.  Problem is, the study has a few fatal flaws that never make it to the headlines. All the headlines focus on is that antioxidants don’t help prevent heart

What the pharmaceutical company funded media fails to highlight is that they researchers did not look at the lifestyles of the individuals taking the supplements. If you have someone who has a very oxidative lifestyle filled with alcohol, poor diet, and no exercise there is no doubt that antioxidant supplements, especially in the low doses they used in the study, will have little effect on coronary heart disease. What the headlines should have said is that we found little benefit to supplements if you don’t give a damn about your health. You can’t use supplements to overcome a bad lifestyle.

The bottom line here is that the headline is deceiving. What it should have said is that supplements may are not helpful to people who don’t care about their health. There are numerous studies to show benefits of antioxidants in human health and this one does little to deny that fact, what it does suggest is that antioxidants alone are not the answer. Total focus on lifestyle issues is the answer. Sorry public, no pills to overcome bad decisions.