DO VITAMINS CURB EXERCISE BENEFITS ?

If you exercise to improve your metabolism and prevent diabetes - you may want to avoid antioxidants like Vitamins C and E. That is the message of a surprising new look at the body's reaction to exercise, reported by researchers in Germany and Boston.

Exercise is known to have many beneficial effects on health including on the body's sensitivity to insulin. "Get more exercise" is often among the first recommendations given by doctors to people at risk of diabetes.

But exercise makes the muscle cells metabolise glucose, by combining its carbon atoms with oxygen and extracting the energy that is released. In the process - some highly reactive oxygen molecules escape and make chemical attacks on anything in sight. These reactive oxygen compounds are known to damage the body's tissues.

The body has its own defense system for combating oxidative damage, but it does not always do enough. So antioxidants which mop up the reactive oxygen compounds, may seem like a logical solution.

The Jena team found that in the group taking the vitamins there was no improvement in insulin sensitivity and almost no activation of the body's natural defense mechanism against oxidative damage. The vitamins, by efficiently destroying the reactive oxygen ------short circuit the body's natural response to exercise.

THE VERDICT

The effect of vitamins on exercise and glucose metabolism is significant.