Reductionist science does it again.
Reductionist science or reductionist science reporting?
Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
11–20 of 42 posts
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#12Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#13Cue the, "Half of everything we know about medicine is wrong... we just don't know which half."
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#14cf "Adecade ago, I stood alongside my 99 fellow freshmen as we were welcomed into the ranks of medicine in a ''white coat ceremony.'' Here, on our first day of med school, we were presented with the short white coats that proclaimed us part of the mystery and the discipline of medicine. During that ceremony, the dean said something that was repeated throughout my education: half of what we teach you here is wrong -- unfortunately, we don't know which half." via http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/magazine/16INTRO.html?page...
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#15As I am now on my second Melanoma (luckily stage 1) this article hit me right in the stomach for some reason. I kept looking to see if I am eating something wrong. So can someone with better understanding of antioxidants explain if this is only via vitamin or if it's specifically present in some types of food.
The overwhelming majority of these studies study these effects only in pill/supplement form. It's unknown if whole foods with the same vitamins present the same problems. IIRC, there's research suggesting whole foods are superior to vitamin pills (though I don't recall off the top of my head.)
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#16The article just talks about antioxidant supplements being harmful, not naturally occurring antioxidants from sources such as coffee. That's good. Don't ruin coffee for me, please science. I don't really understand the whole supplement craze. To me, it feels like common sense not to megadose any particular thing, especially when you don't understand the effects said thing can have on the body.
To me, it feels like common sense not to megadose any particular thing, especially when you don't understand the effects said thing can have on the body.
This is a great comment, and hits the nail on the head.
I've spent much of the past 10 years trying to understand and overcome a somewhat mysterious fatigue illness that seems most likely to be a general autoimmune condition.
One of the approaches I've tried along the way is to consume large amounts of various supplements, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs (basically, whatever was the latest thing I heard some convincing-sounding "expert" recommend).
What I ended up realising was that any high-dose supplement intake might initially make me feel better, but after a while it would actually make me feel worse.
As I understand it now, having devoted a lot of time to researching and experimenting with this, is that a deficiency in any nutrient is less to do with a lack of it in the diet and more to do with the body's ability/willingness to absorb and utilise it [1].
And so the more of any given nutrient that you try and shove into the body, the more you actually throw it out of balance, as it now has to deal with an excess of something it was already struggling with or resisting, as well the increased presence of that nutrient relative to other important nutrients.
More recently I've had much better success at improving my condition by learning how to match my nutrient intake to what my body actually needs and can handle at any given time (via diet and very sparing, selective supplement intake), and that seems to now have me on a steady path to full recovery.
[1] Sure there are many people in the world who are ill due to inadequate intake of certain nutrients from their diet, but that's more of an issue in poverty-stricken societies, as opposed to developed-world societies where most people have access to healthy-enough diets yet many still suffer from chronic illness.
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#17The article just talks about antioxidant supplements being harmful, not naturally occurring antioxidants from sources such as coffee. That's good. Don't ruin coffee for me, please science. I don't really understand the whole supplement craze. To me, it feels like common sense not to megadose any particular thing, especially when you don't understand the effects said thing can have on the body.
To me, it feels like common sense not to megadose any particular thing, especially when you don't understand the effects said thing can have on the body. This is a great comment, and hits the nail on the head. I've spent much of the past 10 years trying to understand and overcome a somewhat mysterious fatigue illness that seems most likely to be a general autoimmune condition. One of the approaches I've tried along t…
What sort of diet and supplements?
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#18The article just talks about antioxidant supplements being harmful, not naturally occurring antioxidants from sources such as coffee. That's good. Don't ruin coffee for me, please science. I don't really understand the whole supplement craze. To me, it feels like common sense not to megadose any particular thing, especially when you don't understand the effects said thing can have on the body.
To me, it feels like common sense not to megadose any particular thing, especially when you don't understand the effects said thing can have on the body. This is a great comment, and hits the nail on the head. I've spent much of the past 10 years trying to understand and overcome a somewhat mysterious fatigue illness that seems most likely to be a general autoimmune condition. One of the approaches I've tried along t…
I have spent 15 years fixing my health via similar means. I would be thrilled if you would be so kind as to read my latest attempt at a health blog and leave comments or otherwise give me feedback:
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#19Years ago (10ish) I read an article (that I've tried to find a few times since, but failed) by a researcher that tried to find the studies that said antioxidants were good for you. He traced stories and articles back to... nothing. I think the first mention he found was in a popular magazine and it had no data or research to back it up.
I really wish I could find that article again. I remember being fascinated by it.
Just found this:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/#an... and disease prevention studies
Re: Antioxidants May Make Cancer Worse
#20Reductionist science does it again.
[deleted]