1 reply to this topic

[aikikai]

Hello!

I'm a new member here, from Sweden.

I have a question in which I really can't find any good answer to. I have heard that agressive supplementation of antioxidants can suppress the immune system, and I wonder if there is any thruth in this?

From the latest "Smart Publications Health & Wellness Update" there was an interview with Barry Sears, Ph.D. about his "Zone diet". There was a question to him about supplementation and immune system. Quote:

"Q: Why do you think that taking mega-doses of antioxidants may
suppress the immune system?

Dr Sears: Because we have to have some bad eicosanoids,
otherwise we’d die, and to make eicosan-oids—both good and
bad—you need a certain amount of free radicals. When you take
very high levels of antioxidants the free radicals necessary to
form eicosanoids get inhibited, and this puts the body at great
risk in terms of its ability to fight off bacterial infections,
or to inhibit the process needed to repair injuries."

So, what are your thougths about this?

[Pablo M]

Hmm. Sears is pretty conservative when it comes to supplements in general. However, high-dose fish oil as he recommends acts somewhat like a drug, certainly more so than eating fish. He's right about certain amounts of bad eicosanoids being necessary. Like many things, the human body seems poorly designed in that normal living causes (for the time being) irreparable damage. Whether long-term use of even a natural inflammatory inhibitor like Zyflamed is a good idea... is unknown.

For what it's worth I take "megadoses" of vitamin C. For a good introduction to the subject of antioxidants, free radicals and immunity I recommend Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C available from lulu.com/ascorbate.