No abstract

Overly exuberant and exaggerated past expectations and claims of the free radical theory have been quieted by extensive randomized, double-blind, controlled human studies. A half century of data demonstrates its lack of predictability and it has not been validated by the scientific method. Widespread use of antioxidants has failed to quell the current pandemic of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease or to stop or reverse the aging process. Electronically modified oxygen derivatives contribute to the modulation of cellular redox status, which is of primary importance in disease prevention and homeostasis.

No abstract

Decades of overly exuberant antioxidant vitamin claims, regarding disease prevention and antiaging, have not been supported by rigorous scientific testing and negative studies have been largely denied or ignored by the dietary supplement industry. Myths, half truths, and outright lies are commonly used to promote their sales since there is minimal governmental oversight of their effectiveness or of their harmful potential. The free radical theory, which served as the basis of antioxidant vitamin studies to prevent disease, lacks predictability, fails to meet the requirements of the scientific method, and has consequently been invalidated. Antioxidant vitamins have such widespread use that their potential to do harm has become a global public health issue. We must follow the fundamental medical precept of Hippocrates: ‘‘First, do no harm.’’ We must separate fact from factitious and ‘‘myths of marketing’’ from scientific truths.