It should be noted that antioxidant supplements are not cure in themselves. The American Heart Association, for one, does not recommend using antioxidant supplements "until more complete data are in." Instead, what they suggest is for "people to eat a variety of foods daily from all of the basic food groups."
In April 2000, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, an advisory group that is part of the National Academy of Sciences, has also reported that Vitamin C, Vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids like beta-carotene should come from food, not supplements, in order to make use of their inherent antioxidant properties.
Since 1941, the Food and Nutrition Board has established a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), a daily intake goal for nearly all (98 percent) healthy individuals. It has also developed a "tolerable upper intake level" (UL), which is the maximum amount of a nutrient that health individuals can take each day without risking adverse health effects. The Board does this by determining the types and quantities of nutrients that are needed for healthy diets through scientific literature review, disease-protecting nutrients, and data interpretation on the consumption of these nutrients.
Below is the Dietary Reference Intakes or DRIs in the 2000 report for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids:
· Vitamin E – RDA for adults is 15 mg; UL for adults is 1,070 mg (natural vitamin E) or 785 mg (synthetic vitamin E)
· Vitamin C – RDA for adults is 75 mg (for women) or 90 mg (for men); UL for adults is 2,000 mg
· Beta-carotene – Research indicates that it is not toxic if you consume beyond what is in a multivitamin and your regular diet. Still, chronic high doses should be wisely avoided.
· Selenium – RDA for adults is 55 micrograms; UL for adults is 400 micrograms
Antioxidant supplementation is not a problem in itself. What makes it potentially dangerous is that if you take more than what is recommended, there is a chance that you are doing more harm to your body than good. Just remember that aging is a fact among humans. You cannot stop yourself from aging. What you can only do is to slow down the process.
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