Before You Pop That Vitamin In Your Mouth…

June 3, 2009 by JD
Filed under Health News, News, Supplement News

Interesting study results coming out of Germany.

A group of scientists in Hamburg have determined that athletes that take vitamins after a cardio workout may be reversing the primary benefits of their exercise efforts. Specifically, taking in supplemental doses of the antioxidant vitamins C and E soon after an exercise session appears to hamper a critical byproduct of exercise - the body’s natural ability to improve energy regulation.

How?

First a little refresher in body chemistry.

Intense cardio activity enhances the body’s sensitivity to the hormone insulin. This allows the body to more efficiently govern cellular use of sugar as an energy source. In other words, as you are pumping the pedals or cranking on the treadmill, the body adapts to the pace and becomes better at managing sugar levels in the blood to keep the energy flowing.

This ability to manage glucose levels in the blood is one of the more critical functions in the body. In fact, Type 2 diabetes actually develops when the body becomes less sensitive to insulin levels and thus unable to effectively manage blood sugar levels.

Now, a quick lesson in antioxidants and free radicals.

Antioxidants occur naturally in the body and serve to neutralize the destructive “free radicals” that are responsible for, among other things, the external cellular damage associated with premature aging, sun damage, and muscle tone deterioration. These free radicals are a byproduct of our metabolism and thus are produced in larger quantities during periods of intense exercise when our metabolism is working at accelerated levels.

Antioxidants good, free radicals bad, right? Not entirely.

Turns out that scientists now believe that these oxygen free radicals, in addition to the destructive cellular reactions they generate, also increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Again, the more sensitive the body is to insulin levels in the blood, the better it can manage blood sugar - i.e. energy levels. Type 2 diabetes is a disease directly linked with a body that is unable to manage these sugar levels due to a lack of insulin sensitivity.

Antioxidants destroy free radicals. So, free radicals good, antioxidants bad? Nope. It’s all about balance. In a perfect world, an optimally performing body should maintain a healthy balance between free radical and antioxidant levels.

What we are learning, is that taking in antioxidant supplements right after exercise will offset that balance by over-neutralizing the free radicals produced by cardio exertion before they can work to benefit our blood sugar management system.

In addition, by throwing an excess of artificial antioxidants into the body, we are potentially weakening the body’s own ability to naturally produce them. This leads to a weakening of the exercise induced free radical defense system, which depends on naturally produced antioxidants.

Dr Michael Ristow and colleagues from the University of Jena in Germany wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “We find that antioxidant supplements prevent the induction of molecular regulators of insulin sensitivity and endogenous antioxidant defence by physical exercise.”

Now, I do firmly believe that there is a place for antioxidants in a supplement regimen. Especially as we get older and our body begins to lose the cellular war between antioxidants and the age accelerating free radicals.

But this latest study does contribute to the increasingly compelling argument that vitamins and supplements can have complex, yet to be discovered, and potentially damaging effects on the body.

Something to remember when you grab that bottle of mega-dose nutritional vitamin or supplement formula.