4 replies to this topic

[wydell]

LONDON (Reuters) - Giving up sweets and avoiding vitamins could help you live longer, German researchers said on Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.co...dNxBNCtFo6s0NUE

[Mind]

It is an interesting theory. Free radicals stimulate the body to produce its own cellular defenses. Heavy antioxidant (vitamin) use takes care of the free radicals and therefore the body doesn't use its own evolved defenses. Could this be part of the reason that so many studies involving mega-dosing of vitamins have shown little or no benefit? (or maybe I am just off my layman's rocker here).

[niner]

Yeah, an interesting report. It is somewhat contradicted by a number of studies showing benefits from various antioxidants. People different than worms? Also, the study looks at a really weird condition where glucose intake is severely curtailed; sounds like more than just skipping the candy. Nevertheless, it's an idea to keep in mind. Our bodies are incredibly regulated, and have a tendency to adjust to whatever the situation is. It does make sense that if we suppress free radicals, our bodies might respond by downregulating SOD and similar enzymes.

[Shepard]

I don't know anything about worms, but ketosis in humans might work in a similar manner to increase blood antioxidant levels. In vitro, acetoacetate can increase superoxide anion radicals, but this came out recently:

Rejuvenation Res. 2007 Jul 30; [Epub ahead of print]
    Effect of Short-Term Ketogenic Diet on Redox Status of Human Blood.
    Nazarewicz RR, Ziolkowski W, Vaccaro PS, Ghafourifar P.

    Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, Institute of Mitochondrial Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio., Gdynia Maritime University, Division of Food and Nutrition Assessment, Gdynia, Poland.

    The present study investigated the effect of a ketogenic diet on the blood redox status of healthy female subjects. Twenty healthy females with mean body mass index of 21.45 +/- 2.05 kg/m(2) were provided a low-carbohydrate (55 +/- 6 g; 13% total energy), high-fat (138 +/- 16 g; 74% total energy), calorie-restricted (-465 +/- 115 kcal/d) diet. The followings were tested prior to and after 14 days consumption of the diet: Whole body, body weight and total body fat; blood, complete blood count, red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin, and hematocrit; plasma, 3-beta-hydroxybutyrate, total antioxidative status, and uric acid; red blood cells, total sulfhydryl content, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase activity, and catalase activity. After 14 days, weight loss was significant whereas no changes were detected in body fat. No alterations were observed in blood count or morphology. 3-beta-hydroxybutyrate, total antioxidative status, uric acid, and sulfhydryl content were significantly increased. There were no alterations in malondialdehyde, or superoxide dismutase or catalase activity. The present study demonstrates that 14 days of a ketogenic diet elevates blood antioxidative capacity and does not induce oxidative stress in healthy subjects.

    PMID: 17663642 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

I did chalk a chunk of it up to the diet being calorically restricted.

[caston]

Could also be a strong relationship between damage and cell division.