My Candid Opinion on Resveratrol Supplements

Today's post is in honor of your heart. After all, it's National Heart Month, so I'm helping you watch out for your heart (and the rest of your precious organs), as I watch out for my own.......

I don't get it!

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I do not understand the obsession with antioxidant supplements. I'm not talking about multivitamins that contain antioxidants, I'm talking single-antioxidant supplements (specifically high-doses) like beta-carotene, vitamin E, resveratrol, etc. There are certain ones I am ok with, such as a lower dose (around 500-1000 mg) of vitamin C to "enhance immunity" (although the research really isn't there) but overall I don't think it's safe to take a single-dose antioxidant pill, because our bodies weren't made to consume antioxidants in that way. The best way to get antioxidants, in my opinion, is to eat FOOD! The following foods are loaded with different types of antioxidants;

Broccoli

Spinach

Pumpkin

Sweet Potatoes

Berries

Flaxseed

Grapes

Wine

Did you know that there are still thousands, if not millions, of antioxidants that have yet to be discovered? You could be eating them right now, and they could be working with the other antioxidants in your foods to provide the benefits that we already know about. You can not get those same benefits from a single-dose antioxidant supplement.

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In other words, antioxidants work in synergy with other nutrients/antioxidants, and our bodies weren't designed to get large doses of antioxidants by themselves. In fact, our bodies have a very unique antioxidant system of it's own, and when it needs to make antioxidants, it does, and there are even certain times when we need things like free radicals (the very things that antioxidants prevent and/or destroy) to sent messages to our body and alert them of damage.




WIKIPEDIA:

Consequently, organisms contain a complex network of antioxidant metabolites and enzymes that work together to prevent oxidative damage to cellular components such as DNA, proteins and lipids.^[1][14] In general, antioxidant systems either prevent these reactive species from being formed, or remove them before they can damage vital components of the cell.^[1][13] However, since reactive oxygen species do have useful functions in cells, such as redox signaling, the function of antioxidant systems is not to remove oxidants entirely, but instead to keep them at an optimum level.^[15]


If we consume too many antioxidants (in pill form) and destroy those free radicals, who will send the message that damage has occurred? The perfect example of this problem was found in the beta-carotene study tested beta-carotene supplements to see if they effectively prevented cancer in smokers In short, the beta-carotene supplements increased the rate of lung cancer in smokers. Also this study showed that high-doses of vitamin E increased risk of dying. No thanks.


This brings me to the reason why I simply do not understand resveratrol supplements. The idea to test resveratrol came from witnessing that the French have a lower rate of coronary heart disease than Americans, despite a high intake of saturated fat. Today's Dietitian wrote a fabulous article on Resveratrol in their latest issue. It was noted that the French drink considerably more red wine than Americans, so fast forward many years of research, and resveratrol is in the spotlight. Resveratrol is a phytonutrient (plant nutrient) with antioxidant properties, and it's found mainly in red grapes, red wine, certain berries, and peanuts (read the article in Today's Dietitian to find our more about resveratrol's mechanism of action). Studies on resveratrol have been shown to help protect against everything from heart disease, to cancer, to Alzheimer's disease. Oh yeah, and it may also make fat men fitter.

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That's all well and good, but here are the problems I see......

1. Drugs need years and years of research before they go on the market, and even then we often find that long-term effects are not what we thought. Supplements require zero research before going on the market. Case in point; more research (and not just on animals) is needed before I would ever suggest a resveratrol supplement! And I'm not talking about research from this man who clearly faked much of his research on resveratrol (who knew research could be faked?! haha, I did! Well, maybe not faked, but manipulated). I'd rather not risk my life on hope, personally.

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2. Here is the part I really don't understand. The French Paradox. Why are researchers studying the effect of high doses of resveratrol, when one 5-ounce glass of red wine contains as little as .06 and as much as 1.89 mg resveratrol?! NO ONE IN FRANCE/SPAIN/ITALY IS DRINKING ENOUGH WINE TO GET EVEN CLOSE TO THE AMOUNT USED IN RESEARCH AND FOUND IN SUPPLEMENTS!! So why are we testing such large doses ?? If red wine is truly benefiting the health of the French and others in that area, than why not make pills with the amount of resveratrol that equals the average daily consumption of the French?! Why must more always be assumed to be better?!

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I can't drink red wine because it contains FODMAPS, so personally I wouldn't mind a resveratrol supplement that contained the same amount of resveratrol as 1-2 cups of red wine (~3 mg, not 20-1000 mg!). To me, that makes more sense (although I probably still wouldn't take it). That would equal two glasses of wine, minus the alcohol. I'll make up for the health benefit of alcohol by taking my 3mg resveratrol with a shot of vodka.
How about that for good science?


QUESTION: I'm curious, what are your thoughts on antioxidant supplements? Would you ever take a 20mg resveratrol pill? Would you take a 100-200 mg one?

Few Starches and Lots of Wine to Prevent Breast Cancer!?

Please don't take the title of this post too literally. I've read a couple intriguing articles about breast cancer prevention lately; one had to do with starches in the diet and another had to do with wine in the diet. Briefly, the first study linked increased starch intake with an increased likelihood of breast cancer recurrence, while the second study showed that red wine might help prevent breast cancer recurrence. Interesting enough, this article published last November found that women who consumed as few as three servings of wine a week increased their risk of developing breast caner.

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So what do we do? Drink wine? Don't drink wine? Reduce our starchy foods? This is just an example of why it's important to not take everything you read at face value. I think people often read the titles of articles and just go with it...."Nice, I'm drinking some wine tonight! Heck, I'll have three glasses!" or "Crap, I'm cutting out starches for good. No more, I don't want breast cancer!". If you actually look deeper you will find that there are several problems with both of these statements;


1. The wine study had 36 subjects. Need I say more? Clearly more research is needed.

2. The starch study found that "increased risk of breast cancer was limited to those with low-grade tumors".

3. The starch study found that those who had a recurrence of breast cancer consumed an average of 2.3 more grams of carbohydrates for the first year, and those who did not have a recurrence of cancer consumed an average of 2.7 grams of carbohydrates. A majority of the carbohydrates were from starches. So in other words, the difference was about 6 grams. That's not a big difference. And the 2.3 grams of carbohydrates is a pretty decent amount, so don't go cutting your carbs too much, ladies!

4. Any time you read a study review you have to assume that the author interpreted the study accurately. Most often you can not actually read the study yourself, as it typically costs an arm and a leg, so you have to assume that they author read the study and interpreted it as he/she should have. Trust me when I say this is not always the case!


BOTTOM LINE: In regards to both of these studies, wait for more research to be presented. If you've had breast cancer and it was estrogen receptor positive, consider the fact that if you have a choice between red and white wine, the red is most likely going to be the better choice. As for starch in your diet, everyone (men, women, with or without cancer) should make sure they do not get too much starch in their diet. Choosing the non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, etc. over the starchy ones like corn, beans, and potatoes, might be a good idea, but don't stop eating starches all together, please. If anything, be more cautious about your serving sizes and daily snacking habits. Meet with a local dietitian to see how much starch (and carbohydrates) you should be eating each day.

Enjoy your Hump Day everyone! This is my Saturday today, so of course I have a long list of things to do, including making shepherd's pie and some mean thai peanut sauce (to be posted in the next week or so).

I'll leave you with this picture; the only one I got with Joy Bauer! It's blurry, I know, but pretend it's not. Pretty cool huh?!