MensHealth
  • News
  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Sex
  • Nutrition
  • Style
  • Weight Loss
  • Life
  • Podcasts
  • Subscribe
  • Motoring
  • Video
MensHealth
  • News
  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Sex
  • Nutrition
  • Style
  • Weight Loss
  • Life
  • Podcasts
  • Subscribe
  • Motoring
  • Video
Bjornsson Deadlifted 1,026 pounds On The Elephant Bar To Win 2020 Arnold Classic
Watch 0:10

Bjornsson Deadlifted 1,026 pounds On The Elephant Bar To Win 2020 Arnold Classic

{headline}

{headline}

This New Science-backed Energy Drink is 100 per cent Natural

This New Science-backed Energy Drink is 100 per cent Natural

10 Health And Fitness Instagram Accounts That Are Inspiring Us To Take On 2021

10 Health And Fitness Instagram Accounts That Are Inspiring Us To Take On 2021

How To Set Up Your Work From Home Space

How To Set Up Your Work From Home Space

Government Orders Shutdown Of Gyms And Indoor Sporting Venues

Government Orders Shutdown Of Gyms And Indoor Sporting Venues

{headline}

{headline}

Is Popcorn A Healthy Snack?

Is Popcorn A Healthy Snack?

Everything You Need To Know About Vaping And Its Effect On Your Health

Everything You Need To Know About Vaping And Its Effect On Your Health

Zac Efron Rushed To Australia To Treat "Life-Or-Death" Medical Emergency

Zac Efron Rushed To Australia To Treat "Life-Or-Death" Medical Emergency

{headline}

{headline}

A Doctor Explains How the 'Hercules Gene' Could Help You Build Muscle Mass

A Doctor Explains How the 'Hercules Gene' Could Help You Build Muscle Mass

This Experiment On Germs Will Have You Cleaning Your Laptop ASAP

This Experiment On Germs Will Have You Cleaning Your Laptop ASAP

Your "Heart Age" Is Probably Way Older Than You Think

Your "Heart Age" Is Probably Way Older Than You Think

Everything You Need To Know About Testosterone

Everything You Need To Know About Testosterone

Are Plant-Based Protein Substitutes Healthier Than Meat?

Are Plant-Based Protein Substitutes Healthier Than Meat?

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Day

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Day

Just One Run Per Week Can Cut Risk Of Early Death By 27%

Just One Run Per Week Can Cut Risk Of Early Death By 27%

  1. Home
  2. Health

Why Your Vitamin Pills Could Be Doing You More Harm Than Good

This is a bitter pill to swallow - by Dax Moy
  • 12 Jul 2017
Why Your Vitamin Pills Could Be Doing You More Harm Than Good

Were you to peer through the windows of most 21st-Century kitchens, you’d see that no modern breakfast is complete without a fistfull of pills you’d normally associate with the inmates
of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

 

That’s because getting your five-a-day between gym sessions and late meetings is no mean feat. Packing a day’s worth
 of vitamins and minerals into one neat handful is the modern way to streamline your nutrition. But not all shortcuts are the best route, no matter how convenient they may seem.

RELATED: here's what actually happens to your body when you take steroids

Granted, vitamins such as A, C and
 E eliminate the free radicals that are released when you do things your doctor tells you not to – drink, smoke, gorge on charred meat. Which is good, because free radicals are associated with diabetes and heart disease. And they can cause cancer by interacting with your DNA in particularly insidious ways. Trouble is, antioxidants might be doing the same.

Logically speaking, guzzling 4000 per cent of your RDA of vitamin C by swapping greenery for an effervescent breakfast should lead to the life expectancy of Methuselah; and packing in more dietary nutrients than Woolies’ organic aisle should give you the constitution to match. Sadly, no.

First, supplements: the clue is in their name – anything you dissolve in water or shake out of a pill bottle should sit alongside your diet, not work in place of it. You’re not Buck Rogers, so you 
can’t steer straight past the fruit and veg section seeking a meal in a pill.

Your body is built to unlock nutrients slowly from food, letting them in gradually – not to have a busload come crashing in at once. You don’t have the capacity to host such a festival of substances.

RELATED: these 5 foods fight the biggest killer of Australian men

A word to the wise: next time you go to the toilet and notice that your urine glows like you’ve been on holiday in Chernobyl, it’s a sign that you’re pissing your money away. But unfortunately the problem extends far beyond an inability to process all the nutrients. Treat vitamins as you would whey, creatine or any other supplements; you can have
 too much of a good thing.

Mainlining
 antioxidants 
has counter-
productive
 and somewhat
 dangerous effects.
The problems manifest 
in ugly ways. Overloading on 
antioxidants can cause tumours to develop and even accelerate their growth. Recent Swedish research suggests that although they decrease the rate at which free radicals interfere with your DNA, they reduce the level so much that your cells don’t notice they’re being messed with.

In essence, your cells become lazy and are slow to deploy their cancer defenses. Your “helpful” supplements let in a raiding party by the back door.

Getting your antioxidants as evolution intended – from actual food – is to be encouraged. Unless you’re on the verge of malnutrition, the advice is clear: chuck out all your powders, pills and potions and eat an apple instead.

Otherwise the doctor won’t be far away.

Still not convinced? Ponder this science

BAD DRUGS

The Annals of Internal Medicine journal pinpointed vitamins A and E as harmful in high doses.

TOXIC CANCER

N-acetylcysteine’s, at levels below those found in supplements, almost tripled tumour rates in mice.

DUDS DISGUISE

A survey in the journal BMC Medicine found up to a third of supps are bereft of the advertised herb.

RELATED: ditch the pills and cover your nutritional bases with this nutrient- and vitamin-packed brekkie...

  • Health
  • Vitamins and Supplements

Subscribe Now-

Subscribe Now
Subscribe Now

Subscribe Now-

Subscribe Now
Subscribe Now

Recommended to you

Bjornsson Deadlifted 1,026 pounds On The Elephant Bar To Win 2020 Arnold Classic
Watch 0:10

Bjornsson Deadlifted 1,026 pounds On The Elephant Bar To Win 2020 Arnold Classic

{headline}

{headline}

This New Science-backed Energy Drink is 100 per cent Natural

This New Science-backed Energy Drink is 100 per cent Natural

10 Health And Fitness Instagram Accounts That Are Inspiring Us To Take On 2021

10 Health And Fitness Instagram Accounts That Are Inspiring Us To Take On 2021

How To Set Up Your Work From Home Space

How To Set Up Your Work From Home Space

Government Orders Shutdown Of Gyms And Indoor Sporting Venues

Government Orders Shutdown Of Gyms And Indoor Sporting Venues

{headline}

{headline}

Is Popcorn A Healthy Snack?

Is Popcorn A Healthy Snack?

Everything You Need To Know About Vaping And Its Effect On Your Health

Everything You Need To Know About Vaping And Its Effect On Your Health

Zac Efron Rushed To Australia To Treat "Life-Or-Death" Medical Emergency

Zac Efron Rushed To Australia To Treat "Life-Or-Death" Medical Emergency

{headline}

{headline}

A Doctor Explains How the 'Hercules Gene' Could Help You Build Muscle Mass

A Doctor Explains How the 'Hercules Gene' Could Help You Build Muscle Mass

This Experiment On Germs Will Have You Cleaning Your Laptop ASAP

This Experiment On Germs Will Have You Cleaning Your Laptop ASAP

Your "Heart Age" Is Probably Way Older Than You Think

Your "Heart Age" Is Probably Way Older Than You Think

Everything You Need To Know About Testosterone

Everything You Need To Know About Testosterone

Are Plant-Based Protein Substitutes Healthier Than Meat?

Are Plant-Based Protein Substitutes Healthier Than Meat?

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Day

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Day

Just One Run Per Week Can Cut Risk Of Early Death By 27%

Just One Run Per Week Can Cut Risk Of Early Death By 27%

MensHealth
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Chris Hemsworth Hugo Boss
  • Terms
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Chris Hemsworth Hugo Boss
  • Terms
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement

Brands

  • Women's Health

Our Network

  • Paragon Media Pty Ltd
© 2021 Are Media PTY LTD
Get more from Men's Health

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe Now-

Shop This Offer
Subscribe Now