Scientists Against Antioxidant Abuse

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

In recent years, there has been a popular theory about the dangers of so-called free radicals and the antioxidants that protect against them. But now some researchers are of the opposite opinion. Do not get carried away with antioxidants, said biologist Professor Nava Dekel, among others. She suspects that it is they who can provoke infertility in women.

More recently, experts from the Cochrane Library claimed that antioxidants increase the chances of conceiving a child. Meanwhile, Professor Dekel, along with Dr. Ketty Shkolnik and Ari Tadmore, conducted research and proved the opposite.

Now they are trying to add antioxidants to everything: in food, drinks and even face cream. But in fact, we do not fully know how they work in our body, notes Dekel, writes NEWSru.com with reference to The Times of India.

Some of the most common antioxidants include vitamins C and E. They work by killing the reactive oxygen molecules naturally formed in the body. Under stress, these molecules are produced in excessive quantities, which damages cells. In theory, by neutralizing oxygen, antioxidants improve health and slow down the aging process.

Scientists added antioxidants to the ovaries of laboratory mice and recorded a significant decrease in ovulation. That is, the ovaries were producing too few eggs. By contrast, exposure to reactive oxygen produced the opposite effect.

Earlier, scientists Guan-Zhou Chen and Robert Peng stated that the antioxidants quercetin and ferulic acid increased the development of kidney cancer in laboratory mice with diabetes. In this regard, the researchers urged to be wary of products that have these substances as additives.