Hold the blueberries! All those anti-oxidants you’ve been working into your diet may not be having the impact on your health that you’ve been told they would.
People who add extra antioxidants to their diet or take a supplement don’t live any longer compared to people who simply eat well, according to a study by the Clinic for Aging Research and Education at the University of California.
In the long-term study, researchers analyzed mail-in surveys from almost 14,000 retirees in California detailing their intake of foods rich in vitamins A and C, as well as their vitamin supplement intake. Antioxidants, including vitamins A, C and E, are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries and kale, and have been said to have health benefits such as helping to prevent cancer and dementia.
Researchers followed up with the participants over a 32-year period through check-ins and surveys looking at activity such as smoking, exercise, alcohol intake as well as prevalence of conditions such as heart attack, diabetes and cancer and found no connection between the amount of these vitamins they took and risk of death.
The findings showed that although the participants had added intake of antioxidants that their healthier diets were satisfactory in making sure they had met vitamin requirements.
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