Besides my dismally poor ability to generate sales for Hammer Nutrition and very sparse racing season (still a 1st and 2nd though, just sayin'), this post will probably not sit well with some swearing by companies touting antioxidant benefits in their products (sorry Hammer).
A little of this is good...lets throw A LOT more in to make it ideal!
Antioxidants are effectively redox agents in the face of oxidative stress (unless you ask Dr. Randolph Howes-- who is an entertaining read on his alternate theories!). These reactions take place in all of our cells (with the exception of red blood cells and several immune-modulating cells) and especially in mitochondria-rich cells. Oh, Mitochondria-- you nasty smelting factories that give us energy. Think of antioxidant activity as the EPA coming and laying down law on the manufacturing.
If you've had high school and college chemistry you'll recall O-I-L R-I-G...which is fitting if we stay with the mitochondria-factory illustration.
"OXIDATION IS LOSS of electrons, REDUCTION IS GAIN of electrons."
When we soak up all the pesky free radicals brought on by Mitochondria-behaving-badly we quickly have a quandary: extra antioxidants become pro-oxidative. Oxidation can cause adverse molecular damages in body tissues and can slowly degrade the very self-repair systems we consider important to our bodies avoiding adverse outcomes on the cellular level and ultimately poor performance gains.
Countless studies have been done that have shown reduced endogenous antioxidants (that is, those we can make a lot ourselves without help) and synthetic vitamins and mineral cofactors actually hurt performance. it is only when we study bioactive compounds that support these processes we achieve more consistent, reproducible results showing improved or baseline results (you know, scientific theory.
In the face of this evidence, and considering that no two individuals react exactly the same to the same stressors related to differing baseline nutritive status, it is reasonable to be suspect of sports nutrition and lifestyle supplements and the controls put into place to measure consistent, reproducible results (gee, there it is again...).
A Pharmacokinetics lesson: "ADME"
In my brief pharmacology training we are taught the essential pillars of studying and recommending efficacious pharmaceutical intervention in a patient's plan of care.
Absorption-- route of efficacy (IV, oral, transdermal).
Distribution-- which body tissues/organs is this going to be of the most benefit and which secondary sites will be affected.
Metabolism-- is the site of activation and metabolism in the liver, kidneys, cardiac tissue, collagen? In the provided form and dosage does it exert the effects we hope to achieve following cytochrome metabolism? Metabolism includes the half-life as well other factors (i.e. other cofactors or medications that have potential for interaction) that may slow/speed metabolism (steroid inhalers and vitamin D and calcium metabolism...). It's important to differentiate in vitro and human trials in these instance.
Elimination-- closely related to half-life, elimination involves looking at how the body will clear the metabolites whether it's through perspiration, urine, fecal, or reused in some way in the body.
Recognizing the ADME of antioxidants and nutrition can lead to greater understanding if used properly. Unfortunately, this is not often the case when developing a consumer product-- there is a great deal of naturalistic logic thrown in-- where gargantuan claims are made to encompass multiple disease or deficiency states in order to show some semblance of credible marketability.When we stumble down that rabbit hole people either get mixed/null results or suffer adverse effects.
Most often there are wide-ranging views on dose, frequency, and in what form because ADME isn't being followed prior to making recommendations on how to take the supplements.
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I'm not saying antioxidants aren't a good thing at all, when the body is left smoldering they can effectively help attenuate raging inflammation (we give plenty of IV vitamins and minerals in the ICU). However, recognizing timing and efficacy are important considerations when using reduced antioxidant supplements. They certainly aren't a 24/7/365 thing to take.
Recognizing pillars of good nutrition and selecting nutrient-dense foods with minimal processing over exogenous/synthetic sources we can find fantastic results stimulating the body's natural mechanisms at healthy levels. It's not okay to consider pill-based antioxidants and cofactors before realizing the unreliable data and poorly-contructed dosage schedule for athletic performance.
The exception being those that need medical management for other ailments beyond a healthy diet.
P.
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