Antioxidants and Methylation
New research is showing that two of the most important macro supplement nutrient complexes that can be placed in our anti-aging arsenal are antioxidants and methylation facilitators. The science behind them is quite interesting and compelling.

Most everyone has heard the buzz words ‘free radicals�?and antioxidants. Fewer people can explain what they are.  And, almost no one can explain the concept of methylation. We explain them below in terms that everyone can understand and remember.

Antioxidants

Free radicals oxidize (damage) cells �?leading to aging and cancer. A good way to think of free radicals is to think of them as bullets being fired at our cells. When they strike the cells they inflict damage and depending on where the bullet strikes the cell, the damage may be minor or severe. In the worst case, our DNA is damaged and cross-linked or mutated, causing faulty cell replication for the rest of our lives.

Antioxidants are like bodyguards standing in front of bullets (molecular sized ones), taking the hits instead of our cells. Some antioxidants like Vitamin E are ordinary bodyguards. Others, like pycnogenol are many times ’stronger�?and capable of taking many oxidative hits. Ideally, we would have hordes of bodyguards surrounding our cells to protect them. Unfortunately, for most people the amount of antioxidants available is far from adequate.  Usually, the number is more like the number of our police, one bodyguard for several thousand cells. When you realize that every cell in our body is attacked 10,000 or more times per day you can see how lots of bodyguards (antioxidants) are desirable.

There are many kinds of antioxidants that have been discovered so far. Some familiar antioxidants are Vitamin C, Vitamin E, pycnogenol, selenium, etc. There are even multiple antioxidant supplement products that combine many antioxidants. But, the best source of antioxidants on the planet is a food (not a supplement) called RiSoTriene�?or Life Solubles�? This product is 6,000 times more protective than Vitamin E and hundreds of times more protective than Pycnogenol�?

Methylation

Methylation is the repairing of damaged cells (actually methylation is the addition of a methyl group, -CH3- to another molecule) �?we’ll just call it cellular repair.  One good way to think of methylation is that it is the repairing of the damage that is caused by free radicals (either repairing the bodyguard that took the hit, or the cell walls, protoplasm or DNA that gets damaged when no bodyguard is standing by to protect it. So, if antioxidants are bodyguards, methyl donors are repair crews and methylation is repair damaged molecules.

Other things that methylation does is to create high energy (creatine) output within muscles and sleep inducers (melatonin) for our brain.  Methylation does this by enhancing the nutrients we eat.  Older people are especially in need of the good that methylation does.

For some people, the most important thing about methylation is the changing of the (toxic) substance homocysteine into a good amino acid (by adding a methyl group). Homocysteine is the cause of sticky platelets and other lipid damage that causes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Homocysteine is the result of incomplete protein assimilation and free radical assault from bad foods and is now the most reliable indicator of likelihood of heart attack.

In summary: methylation benefits us by lowering homocysteine to safe levels, by creating muscular energy, promoting sleep at night,  and repairing damaged cells, especially DNA molecules.

To improve methylation in our body we need to have high amounts of B Vitamins, betaine (not betaine hydrochloride) which comes from beets, SAMe (a methylation facilitator from the amino acid, methionine), zinc, selenium, Vitamin E and omega oils. Eating nutrient dense foods and supplementing all help to make sure that the number of repair workers in our body is high.

The very best macro supplement for methylation is called Methylate�?from Integris.

To wrap it up let’s review both concepts �?antioxidants stand as bodyguards against free radicals, while methylation facilitators repair cells that were damaged by free radicals.  Methylation also increases our energy, our ability to sleep well and detoxifies toxic molecules that the body creates.  Both antioxidants and methylation are essential to preserving our health. Having optimal supplies of these in our diets is one of the smartest things that we can do today.

http://www.healthy-living.org/html/latest_research.html

In a Kingdom Far Away

What exactly is a "new scientist"?

Maybe she's a scientist who sees the science she wants to see, and ignores the science that doesn't square up with her hypothesis.

The "she" in this case is Dr. Lisa Melton who recently contributed an article to New Scientist magazine. And the title of her article tells you exactly what to expect: "The Antioxidant Myth: A Medical Fairy Tale"

Yes, it's time for antioxidant supplements to take another beating with "proof" that they're ineffective, and "may even be harmful." (Cue the spooky organ music and rumbling thunder.)

But when Dr. Melton spun her grim fairy tale, she probably didn't expect a knight in shining armor to rush in and defend the honor of antioxidant supplements.

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Once upon a time...
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"You name it," Dr. Melton writes, "if it's an antioxidant, we'll swallow it by the bucket-load."

The condescending implication, of course, is that we're all being duped into gulping down dozens of useless supplements. Dr. Melton recognizes the value of dietary antioxidants, but in her New Scientist article she puts the emphasis on clinical trials that "prove" antioxidant supplements are ineffective.

And don't forget the dangers! This part of Dr. Melton's article is like a trip down antioxidant-bashing memory lane. She cites the research that shows smokers to be at higher risk of lung cancer when they take beta-carotene supplements. And of course she highlights that now-famous vitamin E study that found supplements of the vitamin might increase the risk of "all cause mortality." (In other words, vitamin E supplements will kill you in a variety of different ways!)

Usually when this type of article makes an appearance, it's taken at face value by mainstream media outlets that produce quick little articles with scare headlines. This time, however, at least one organization did some actual reporting. In two separate articles, NutraIngredients-USA supplies quotes from several researchers and nutritionists who have some very strong opinions about Dr. Melton's conclusions.

And a perfect place to start is with a quote regarding that vitamin E study. From Angelo Azzi, M.D., of Tufts University: "[The meta-analysis] is flawed. We re-analyzed the data and there is no change in mortality."

Thank you, Dr. Azzi!

Missing details

The beta-carotene claim also gets a makeover.

In the e-Alert "Roll Out the Barrel" (4/4/06), I told you about new research that found beta-carotene alone to pose a danger for smokers, but when the antioxidant was consumed with other antioxidant-rich foods the danger was significantly reduced.

And this is one of the points stressed in the NutraIngredients articles. When an antioxidant supplement is singled out and studied on its own, as if it were a drug, the results don't take into account that antioxidants have been proven to work best when they work together.

James R. Bowman, M.D., (who is also a naturopath and nutritionist) was even more direct in his assessment of Dr. Melton's article: "I have practiced for 30 years, and have the experience and training to absolutely refute every false allegation stated in this article which is short sighted, misleading, poorly researched, and incomplete in its data and context."

That doesn't leave much wiggle room, does it?

But Dr. Melton is a science writer. How could her conclusions about antioxidant supplements be so off the mark? Maybe her employer provides a clue. Dr. Melton writes for the Novartis Foundation, a scientific and educational charity supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Excedrin, Bufferin, Maalox, Lamisil, and a cholesterol-lowering statin drug called Lescol LX.

Do you suppose her drug company affiliation might color her point of view about antioxidant supplements?

There is one point that Dr. Melton and I agree on. She says, "Whatever is behind the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, you cannot reproduce it by taking purified extracts or vitamin supplements."

Absolutely right. And that's why they're called SUPPLEMENTS, not REPLACEMENTS.

From:  http://hsibaltimore.com/ealerts/ea200608/ea20060822a.html

Antioxidants Slow Vision Loss

August 25, 2006, The antioxidants vitamin E and alpha-lipoic acid slowed the loss of sight from retinitis pigmentosa in mouse models - yet more evidence linking antioxidants to improved eye health.

“What’s clear is the link between oxygen and photoreceptor damage, as well as the potential of antioxidant[s],�?said lead researcher Peter Campochiaro.“These experiments suggest that an optimised regimen of antioxidants may help to protect patients with retinitis pigmentosa.�?The researcher leading the studies suggests however that diet rather than supplements could be more effective, but the doses studied raise doubts as to whether similar effects observed in the laboratory could be reproduced in humans through dietary means.

The scientists from John Hopkins University looked at the effects of vitamin E, vitamin C, and alpha-lipoic acid administration to mice with a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

In patients with RP, rod photoreceptors die from a mutation, but it has not been known why cone photoreceptors die. In earlier studies from the same researchers, it was found that exposing mice to pure oxygen resulted in high levels of oxygen in the retina, which killed both rods and cones - light-sensitive cells named for their shapes.

“This was the clue that the high oxygen levels that occur naturally in the retina after rods die was the suspect regarding cone cell death. To test this, we used antioxidants, which protect cells from oxygen damage, and since they allowed many more cones to survive, it proves that the suspect is guilty,�?explained Campochiaro.

The research, published in the July online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (doi: 10.1073/pnas.0604056103), consisted of injecting the mice with the antioxidants alpha-tocopherol (200 mg per kg), vitamin C (250 mg per kg) and alpha-lipoic acid (100 mg per kg).

In this mouse model of RD, the rods are said to completely degenerate by day 18, and then the cones start to degenerate, with 85 per cent reported to be dead by the time the mice are 35 days old.

Th e researchers reported that 40 percent of the cones survived in the mice receiving vitamin E or alpha-lipoic acid. This was about double the amount measured in the vitamin C group, and the control group.

Campochiaro stressed that the benefits observed for the antioxidants do not constitute a cure, but may merely slow the development of blindness. “That alone would be an enormous help,�?he said.

Such doses as observed in this animal study are not recommended for humans - the vitamin E dose would equate to an intake of 14000 mg for a 70kg human which exceeds the safe upper limit of 900 mg �?Campochiaro told NutraIngredients.com : “It is possible that a diet rich in antioxidants could help, but the clinical trial to prove it would be long and difficult and I doubt that anyone would want to take it on.�?A growing body of science is showing that antioxidant carotenoids such as lutein and astaxanthin have significant effects on improving eye health, particularly in relation to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in people over 50.

Campochiaro told NutraIngredients.com that, although his group was not looking at these carotenoids for RP they are beginning to look at “a number of other agents and we have some interesting results that we can't yet discuss.�?/FONT>