What we are referring to… of course… is the belief that taking antioxidants is good for you. Many believe they can prevent such diseases as heart, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Now a new study (published in the August 10th issue of Cell) sheds new light on this claim… and says that too much of a certain antioxidant may even cause heart disease.

To make sense of all this, let’s talk about… How Antioxidants Are Thought To Work… Heart, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other deadly diseases are associated with oxidative stress, in which “free radical” molecules are produced in reaction to oxygen intake. Free radicals travel the body, triggering chemical reactions that damage proteins causing them to form aggregates. It is believed that antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E (and many others), offer health-promoting benefits by protecting against damaging free radicals. That’s why many people take antioxidants to prevent heart and other protein-aggregate diseases.

In a study on laboratory mice, University of Utah researchers (Ivor J. Benjamin, M.D. and Christi T. Smith Chair of Cardiovascular Research, division chief of cardiology at the Utah School of Medicine) found that an overload of natural antioxidants could actually lead to heart failure.

Excessive levels of reduced glutathione can cause reductive stress. Glutathione is one of your body’s most powerful antioxidants. When your cells work properly, they produce just the right amount of reduced glutathione. This is healthy for your body. In some people, a mutated gene can disrupt the fine balance. This causes the cells to produce too much glutathione.

There was a study done with laboratory mice with failing hearts caused by mutant alpha B-Crystallin. Researchers found increased activity of the biochemical pathway leading to high levels of reduced glutathione in the animals. Glutathione is regulated at multiple steps. It is primarily regulated by the G6PD enzyme. To establish the connection between reduced glutathione and heart failure, the researchers mated mutant alpha B-Crystallin mice that carried too much G6PD with mice that had far lower levels.

The resulting offspring had normal levels of reduced glutathione and did not develop heart failure. The researchers found that by lowering the level of reduced glutathione in mice with failing hearts, they were able to increase their rate of survival dramatically. “Lowering the level of reduced glutathione dramatically changed the survival of these mice,” Benjamin said. “Basically, we prevented them from getting heart failure.” Benjamin also added that although many people take antioxidants to prevent heart and other protein-aggregate diseases, there actually is scant evidence to prove they work. And that, “This is a case of too much of a good thing.”

“This field of medicine has not appreciated reductive stress and its influence on disease,” he said. “This is about balance needed in the environment of our cells, and it can have profound consequences on the treatments of heart disease and other serious disorders.”

“Too Much Of A Good Thing?” This is a concept that is misunderstood by most of the population… and probably leads to many health problems. What concept? Most have a skewed concept of how the body functions and what… exactly… optimal performance… or… optimal health is.

For example, let’s take performance. Many athletes are constantly trying to boost performance with supplementation. Some natural (and legal) other synthetic and usually illegal. Some athletes take anabolic steroids to boost performance. Steroids such as testosterone – help build muscle, strength and reduce recovery time. And they naturally occur in your body for these and many other purposes.

And naturally occurring steroids are good for you. So… if naturally occurring steroids do these good things for you – increasing their levels will do more good things for you. And it is true – athletes that take the right steroids, increase their athletic performance. And increase it a great deal.

However, this is not OPTIMAL performance. This is PATHOLOGICAL performance. Here’s why: Optimal performance is when your body is functioning at the highest level for your given genetic potential. Anything beyond that is ABNORMAL. Therefore PATHOLOGICAL.

It’s the same “too much of a good thing” Dr. Benjamin is referring to above. And, it’s the same as far as antioxidants are concerned. It makes complete sense that the proper level of antioxidants is good for you. And they probably help fight disease such as heart, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Too many approach the use of natural supplements like the athlete approaches the use of steroids. If a little is good – a lot is better. Know this: There is a perfect balance in your body where everything functions at 100% of your genetic potential. More is not better – it is worse. And as the study mentioned in this article demonstrated, too much of a good thing can be…Poison!

This is why choosing and taking supplements (of any kind) is much more involved than going into GNC and aimlessly picking a bunch that are popular or sound good. The old (and uneducated) belief that supplements can’t hurt you because they are natural is false. Snake venom is natural. So is mercury. Some of the most dangerous substances in the world are natural. The supplements you take should depend on your diet and the particular needs of your body.

Want to find out more about nutrition, then visit New Century Spine Centers site on how to choose the best vitamins for your needs.

Related posts:

1. Take Omega-3 For A Healthy Heart – Improve Your Life Cardiovascular disease is probably the leading causes of death for...
2. What’s Up Doc? The Reasons Why Your Meds Are Causing Fatigue? This is exactly one of the questions you need to...
3. What You Should Know About Triglycerides And Cholesterol From HFL Solutions A form of fat in the bloodstream is triglycerides. A...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

If you have been feeling like this for a while and have no other known health conditions that could have an affect on your contentment, there’s a good probability that your cholesterol medicine has pulled the plug on a critical nutrient your body requires to maintain vitality and keep that important spring in your step!

CoQ10 has been described as the biochemical spark plug and is also one of the most protective anti-ageing antioxidants to be found. It’s a natural substance that our body needs for our ‘get up and go’. Each second, energy factories called mitochondria are working within each one of the cells of our body, turning oxygen into pure energy, and CoQ10 has a mighty huge role to play in this.

The bad reports is, when you take certain medications to lower cholesterol, such as statin drugs, these block your body’s production of CoQ10 and the more you take these for, the older you feel and more knackered you become. There you are going to the gymnasium, eating a reasonable healthy diet, doing all you can do to keep healthy and fit, without knowing that literally something has pulled out your spark plug.

The guts of the matter.. Glaringly why we want to lower cholesterol is to protect our heart, yes naturally this helps reduce cholesterol, however if our capability to produce CoQ10 is blocked, then this could have a detrimental effect on the heart. medical research have shown that individuals with heart aliments,eg angina, heart failure and coronary artery illness had a higher deficiency of CoQ10. Low CoQ10 means that your heart doesn’t have enough energy or oxygen leading to lowered cellular energy and therefore a debilitated heart.

The Medical stories World previously reported on a study that showed patients with congestive cardiac arrest that took 100mg of CoQ10 every day for six weeks had improved cardiac function. Nutritionists believe that CoQ10 is one of the most vital nutrients to help the heart function optimally.

If you are on statin medication then you can take a CoQ10 supplement to support your well-being. Practitioners counsel supplementing the diet with around 100m of CoQ10 every day. This can be taken once ( 50mg ) in the morning and again ( 50mg ) with lunch, split dose if frequently far more effective. Solgar Nutri-Nano CoQ10 is highly absorbable and gets working quickly. They use patented manufacturing that’s unique and provides superior delivery of the nutrient. As it is so easily soaked up it can be more effective than other forms.

What’s more …

Co-Q10 is one of the most well investigated nutriments for safeguarding the body from age-related illness. Thru its profound energizing capability, Co-Q10 can protect from diabetes and gum illnesses as well as improving fitness by increasing our exercise endurance. Find it difficult to keep off those extra pounds? Co-Q10 is essential to help the body burn fat much more efficiently. As levels decline as we age, so do our energy levels and our ability to burn blubber. Co-Q10 is critical for our power generation and necessary for carbohydrate metabolism. Co-Q10 helps breakdown fat more successfully because it releases energy by consuming fat off, rather than storing it, particularly around the middle of the body. One study of people on a fat-restricted diet who took CoQ10 doubled their weight reduction when compared with those that did not use it.

Another massive health problem in Britain is diabetes type 2. Co-Q10 is shown to manipulate blood sugar and helps to lower glucose and insulin. In a double-blind trial patients with high blood pressure who were taking medicine were given Co-Q10, which ended in lower glucose and insulin as well as decreased blood pressure and triglycerides and HDL ( good cholesterol ) went up.

Up the Anti!

As well as using Co- Q10 daily- one of the strongest, effective and protective antioxidants for good health. If you want to stop the ageing process and keep the body in tip top condition, manage levels of stress, be positive and invest in a healthy nutritious diet with plenty of unpolluted air, moderate exercise, fresh fruits and vegetables. Make sure you get a good intake of essential fatty acids ( omega 3-6-9 ) from nuts, seeds and oily fish. Daily juicing is a great way of getting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants into the diet. To keep the heart healthy and you happy, try rebounding 15 mins a day to get the body moving if you’re not hot for the gymnasium. This is way better to keep you going, than any doctor’s prescription!

Keith Woolley is Research Director for Boots Herbal Stores. For more information about Natural Remedies For High Cholesterol visit the website Solgar.co.uk .

Related posts:

1. A Cholesterol Free Diet From Dr. Sam Robbins Some types of cholesterol are not dangerous. Bad cholesterol (low...
2. How To Achieve A Good Cholesterol Level From HFL Solutions Good cholesterol is HDL (high density lipoprotein). As it moves...
3. Fatigue, Infection and Other Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is the most widespread form of diabetes,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.