Antioxidants May Decrease Longevity
health watch, wacky finds, vitamins, nutrition, antioxidants
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A new study argues that vitamin supplementation does not increase life expectancy. In fact, the study shows that you may be more likely to suffer premature death as a result of vitamin supplementation.
The study, conducted by Cochrane Collaboration, was based on 47 trials with over 180,000 people. According to the study, "antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality". They specifically picked out Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and beta-carotene as making you more likely to die before your scheduled trip to the afterworld.
Apparently, Vitamin A was linked to 16% increased risk of dying, Vitamin E increased risk by 4%, and beta-carotene increased risk by 7%. Vitamin C and selenium showed no risk, but also showed no benefit in longevity.
Since these vitamins are commonly referred to as "antioxidants" - research has suggested these chemicals underlie some of the beneficial effects of eating fruit and vegetables because they soak up harmful byproducts of metabolism which can damage cells and cause aging.
While the evidence of a beneficial effect of a diet rich in fruit and veg is solid, the Cochrane data suggest antioxidant supplements are either useless or detrimental.
What they seem to suggest is that anti-oxidant supplementation has byproducts which cause you to age faster. So it may cause you to look older, sooner, and possibly die... sooner.
I have to say that I'm somewhat skeptical about this. People seem to be able to prove anything with a study, and once you say the word "death" everyone seems to give it more than a glance. This could be a case of scientists trying to get some shine with an attention grabbing study.
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on 4/20/2008
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11.6
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ProAna sites: Health Support with Bizarre Twist
wacky finds, health watch
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Despite researching health and fitness thoroughly, when a girl mentioned that I should try to pull some girls away from proana sites and get them to join FitConnect. “They need some serious help, they’d probably like FitConnect.” Serious help? What are you talking about?
“They’re support sites for weight loss, you should advertise on them”
Well that makes sense, we’re always trying to get more weight loss oriented individuals to our site, but I was confused why she first made it seem almost like a rescue operation. She told me to just google it and I’ll find out.
So after googling for a few minutes I soon realized that Pro-Ana is slang for Pro-Anorexia – the sites are forums and blogs where anorexics (mostly female) post extreme weight loss tips, moral (or, immoral) support, and write rants of frustration. Commonly I came across message boards stating “I gained 5 lbs back and I hate myself.”
I also found many proanas that claimed, “I barely ate anything all week and I’m down 5 lbs.” And along with posts like this, the girls would post their mood as being happy. Then reading on I would find posts from the same girls at a later date stating, “I binge ate a lot today and I’ve gained 10 lbs this week”. No surprise - the mood here was quite unhappy.
So what now for our little friend who just put on 10 lbs and probably thinks she looks like a whale? She’ll probably double her non-eating efforts this week and cut her typical dinner of 2 rice cakes down to merely 1 rice cake. And half way through she might get an extra burst of motivation (from her friends on proana sites) and throw the 2nd half of her rice cake in the trash.
Doesn’t sound very healthy does it? Well, it’s not. Binge dieting – and the proana sites that support it, are not healthy and are very controversial. There are many people and organizations that are trying to get these sites shut down because of their immoral nature. Some hav... read entire entry
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on 3/24/2008
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48.5
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Health Watch: Anyone Else Worried about How Valtrex Commercials are All Over TV?
health watch
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If you watch any television at all, I’m sure you’ve seen one of the many Valtrex commercials. Actually, you’ve probably seen a lot of them – they’re on all of the time lately. And… If you are at all familiar with target marketing, you understand that those advertisements are not just there for us non-herpes having individuals to giggle and make jokes to the person sitting next to us. Valtrex paid good money for those ads, and they’re expecting a return on their investment.
So what does that mean? It means that they have statistical data (not just guessing) that is telling them that there’s a large audience out there with Herpes. Not just a large general audience, but a large audience that fits into your demographic area/type. For example, if you’re a girl from New York that likes watching those stupid Sex and the City re-runs and you see a lot of herpes commercials, then marketing companies must have gathered some info that girls form New York in your age range are likely to be on the herpes side of life.
Please note: If you’re a reader and have Herpes, don’t be offended. You should actually feel a sense of comfort by seeing that there’s many out there like you.
Anyway, for everyone out there who has not caught the socially disastrous virus – this recent increase in Valtrex advertising should raise concern. Personally, after seeing so many commercials I got checked, and I’m 100% clean (female readers gasp a sigh of relief - just kidding). But I don’t recommend being naïve about it, so after getting checked, follow my advice.
Watch tv that a lot of females watch (just for experimental purposes). And girls, you do the opposite (watch football or something). Look to see what television shows are showing the most herpes commercials – I could see Real World showing a lot. Now, if you’re out at a bar talking to a girl, find out what she watches on tv – If she watches a high herpes commercial show, then there’s a chance s... read entire entry
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on 3/17/2008
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24.3
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