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Antioxidant Health: Can I Have Too Many Antioxidants?You may be wondering like I was if antioxidant health has a limit. Antioxidants are extremely important, but can too many be harmful? If you are getting your antioxidants from natural sources like blueberries, you are probably safe. It would be hard to eat so many antioxidants from whole foods that the level would be harmful. That is another benefit of getting nutrition from blueberries. If you are getting your antioxidants from supplements and pills, you need to be careful.
I recently read an article based on research done at the university I attended, The University of Utah. There, researchers have found a link between high levels of one antioxidant and heart disease. The research found on the University website states, "Antioxidants are widely considered an important defense against heart disease, but University of Utah researchers have found excessive levels of one antioxidant-reduced glutathione-actually may contribute to the disease. The findings, published in the Aug. 10 [2007] issue of Cell, indicate a new class of drugs can be developed to treat or even prevent heart disease caused by "reductive stress," according to Ivor J. Benjamin, M.D., Christi T. Smith Chair of Cardiovascular Research, division chief of cardiology at the U School of Medicine and the studies principal author." This study is actually good news. The researchers think that the findings can help them to create drugs that will fight heart disease which is a huge killer. What it means to me is that we all need to be cautious when taking supplements, especially in pill or concentrated form. This is just more evidence for me that eating whole blueberries is a wonderful way to add antioxidant nutrition to my diet.
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