Monthly Archives: September 2008

Antioxidants are the current big thing. You can walk down the aisles of the supermarket and see the word printed on tea, fruit drinks, and even apple sauce.

This ad shows Nestea jumping on the antioxident bandwagon.

It’s a well-designed ad. You’ll notice that although they’re screaming antioxidant, they don’t make any specific claims about antioxidants.

Anyone who thinks that they can stave off the effects of eating the typical processed, chemical-laden American diet by drinking iced tea or fruit juice is kidding themselves.

That’s because the whole antioxidant thing is a big lie. According to an article published in New Scientist, entitled The Antioxidant Myth: a Medical Fairy Tale:

Since the early 1990s scientists have been putting these compounds through their paces, using double-blind randomised controlled trials – the gold standard for medical intervention studies. Time and again, however, the supplements failed to pass the test. True, they knock the wind out of free radicals in a test tube. But once inside the human body, they seem strangely powerless. Not only are they bad at preventing oxidative damage, they can even make things worse. Many scientists are now concluding that, at best, they are a waste of time and money. At worst they could be harmful.

Drink iced tea because it’s tasty and refreshing. Don’t drink it because you think it’s going to help prevent cancer.