Antioxydants : How much do they help YOU?

[LunaHotel]

How do you value antioxydant intake in your training?

Does taking vitamins E and C, Beta Carotene and selenium, green tea extract and ALA make you leaner, bigger, better, stronger, more energetic, or not?

Personally, I find that they are quite significant in my progress. They let me be bigger, stronger and more lean. I recuperate significantly better from my workouts as compared with not taking them.

 

[MaDmaN]

I swear by Green tea Extract...Stuff is awsome and cheap too..Plus it's one hell of a fat burner..

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Vitamin C, E is all you really need. Other ones such as Green Tea has some more benefits but some don't react well to caffeine.

 

[beamen28]

taking vitamins is very important to people living the bodybuilding lifestyle. our clean diets and hard training make our metabolism much faster. with increased metabolism comes more free radicals (unstable molecules) in the body. vitamins E and C are the best antioxidents to take to combat this; as free radicals can cause a number of problems in the body.

 

[stryder]

The Antioxidant Miracle really good read. Based on research at the Packard Labs in CA. Antioxidants are scientifically proven to play a vital role in health and longevity, not really something you see immediate results with or a significant boost in performance though...

 

[bioman]

Many of the compounds touted as powerful antioxidants, grape seed, green tea et cetera, have numerous benefits outside of their ability to capture free radicals.

I swear by grape seed extract.

 

[Iron Warrior]

They haven't given me a training advantage, but there's too much good literature on anti-oxidants that it would only make sense to take them for health reasons. I personally take

1000 mg vitamin C with 500 mg Bioflavonoids
600 IU vitamin E
320 mg Green Tea extract
600 mg NAC
25000 IU Beta Carotene

 

[GTOman]

I swear by Green tea Extract...Stuff is awsome and cheap too..Plus it's one hell of a fat burner..

Hey MaDmaN, I just got some bulk green tea extract powder from 1fast. How much do you take per day for fat burning purposes?

 

[LunaHotel]

W00t? There's no way wer're getting more than 8 people answering this important aspect of nutrition???

Yeah, and how much green tea?

Geez, 8 samples is statistical crap

 

[jweave23]

I'm all about vitamin C, 2-4 grams daily

I drink diet green tea heavily now, but I'm not going back to even more damn caps, lol. It (extract) didn't seem to do much for me in the way of fat burning, energy was good though.

 

[bioman]

The 95% stuff from BAC is pretty good. I'm not that great at cutting but it seems to help plus I can definitely feel it working on the old noggin.

 

[Sticks]

taking vitamins is very important to people living the bodybuilding lifestyle. our clean diets and hard training make our metabolism much faster. with increased metabolism comes more free radicals (unstable molecules) in the body. vitamins E and C are the best antioxidents to take to combat this; as free radicals can cause a number of problems in the body.

that sure sounds familiar.

 

[beamen28]

that sure sounds familiar.

haha yeah, guess that was one of the days i was paying attention in class

 

[DmitryWI]

I can swear by green tea. I buy it in bulk from Custom.

Using 3g a day...

 

[Jstrong20]

I drink green tea, red tea, oolong tea, white tea, and coffee all the time. They all are said to be loaded with antioxidants. I almost forgot I like to drink pomagranat juice from time to time also. Other than that I just take a vitamin and some b-5 every day to control my acne. Also I eat lots of fruit and If I remeber right berries are suppose to be high in antioxidants.

 

[NPursuit]

Vitamin C (high doses)
Vitamin E
Green Tea

All antioxidants I swear by, and use everyday.

 

[The Rob]

Vitamin C (high doses)
Vitamin E
Green Tea

All antioxidants I swear by, and use everyday.

All this support..... I may have to reconsider my initial judgment of them.. The only antioxidant I've ever taken was 500mg of vitamin C a day...... but I stopped that long ago.

 

[kelsey]

you need alot more than 500 mgs man,

get the 1gram capsules take a couple,

I train with massive intensity, and if i miss my anti oxidants and my 8egg+75gram prot. slurry before bed there is no "getting up" because of soreness.

I did this massive deadlift, squat band assisted WO so i was using 20% more than maximal weights.then we went to the trak and standing long jumped 40's.that night i went to bed with my left leg not working, seriously it was flopping like a dead fish.
woke up it worked, sore but worked.

i swear by grapeseed, E, MASSIVE DOSES OF C , green tea.

 

[PumpedmToR]

Depends on the class of antioxident

IMHO it depends on the type of antioxident that you are taking in. Different type of radical species are dealt with by different antioxidents. Taking too much of many 'antioxident' chemicals can end up having a pro-oxident activity.

The quantities you take of each depends a lot on your lifestyle. I don't do much cardio, and have a job where I am seated most of the day, so my radical load is not particularly high, thus my C, E intake is small frequent doses. I also have a problem with H2O2 radicals, for which I wack down NAC (along with selenium and Bcomplex) twice a day.

I suggest looking at taking a small dose of antiox for each ROS type that is an issue for you. Taking small and frequent is better than a big dose.

Also, as undertaker highlighted in another thread - ensure your iron intake is not too high.

stay pumped,

mToR

 

[slipondajimmy]

sorry if this sounds newbie....but green tea extract as a fat burner? How exactly does that work ?

 

[MaDmaN]

sorry if this sounds newbie....but green tea extract as a fat burner? How exactly does that work

?

This is a repost from an article I found and not my words..Alot of you will know this by the correct spelling and punctuation...LOL

In addition to its potential cardioprotective action, green tea extract may serve as an aid to weight loss: in clinical trials it appears to raise metabolic rates and speed up fat oxidatin. Dulloo and colleagues at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, demonstrated that in addition to caffeine, green tea contains catechin polyphenols that raise thermogenesis (the rate at which calories are being burned) and overal energy expenditure. This metabolism-boosting effect seems to be independent of the supplemental caffeine the study's subjects consumed. Although millions of cultures throughout the world consume coffee and tea, only coffee's effect on fat metabolism by virtue of its caffeine content has been widely studied. But caffeine's increase of metabolic rates has only been noted at much higher doses than the 150 mg/daily of this study, which is barely the amount in one cup of brewed coffee. And since caffeine is known to increase heart rate, green tea appears to provide a safer alternative for obese patients who may have hypertension or other cardiovascular problems. Of particular interest in this sutdy is the fact that subjects who received only caffeine--not green tea--showed no change in their metabolic rates. Rather, the authors propose a synergistic interaction between caffeine and other bioactive ingredients in the green tea extract which helped to promote a higher rate of fat burning.

 

[RobInKuwait]

Hmmmm,

I take Vitamins C and E, and I just started out with Selenium. Its supposed to be a very powerful antioxidant (says so on the label, and I always trust supplement labels:think: ). Anybody have experience with Selenium?

 

[Sir Foxx]

At the research reactor that I worked at previously, they did a 5 year research study on selenium and its effects on certain types of cancer. The study showed a very significant difference in people getting cancer as opposed to those that didn't in relation to their selenium intake and levels in the body. I highly recommend selenium(yeast derived) as part of your daily supplement intake. Do not take over 200mcg daily.

 

[CROWLER]

W00t? There's no way wer're getting more than 8 people answering this important aspect of nutrition???

Yeah, and how much green tea?

Geez, 8 samples is statistical crap

I don't really understand the options to choose from. I use anti-oxidents and have for YEARS but have NO idea if they work or not. Meaning if I forgot to take them for 2 weeks I would fee no difference than when I get started back on them

I don't understand how I would know.

I use them 'just in case' they work.

 

[RobInKuwait]

At the research reactor that I worked at previously, they did a 5 year research study on selenium and its effects on certain types of cancer. The study showed a very significant difference in people getting cancer as opposed to those that didn't in relation to their selenium intake and levels in the body. I highly recommend selenium(yeast derived) as part of your daily supplement intake. Do not take over 200mcg daily.

Wow, cancer sucks so I'm glad I'm on it :thumbsup: . Why is it bad to have over 200mcg tho?

 

[Sir Foxx]

toxicity. Look up selenium toxicity and its effects. It's not good if you overdo it.

 

[bioman]

Selenium can bioaccumulate at doses over 1000mcg per day and become toxic. This is especially a concern for women as it seems to accumulate in fatty areas as well as reproductive organs. Just take 100mcgs per day and don't mega dose it.

I've been using 100mcgs of selenium a day with about 1600 mcgs a day of folic acid and 600 mg of ALCAR-ARGinate. I have to say, this is been the best antidepressant stack I've ever done. Mood is great and my homocysteine levels are probably good and low.

 

[sourinthemind]

I have used antioxydants for well over 10 years. As a mainstay I use 9-10 gm of C every day, 800 iu E, and Co-Q10 every day. Not something that will change your life dramatically over nite but I know that I recover from my workouts faster and my joints feel better as well.

 

[bioman]

Also, I like what Ive read about rosemary extract especially in relation to lipid peroxidation. Been mixing it into my grapeseed to stave off LP caused by daily arginine dosing. Has an odd mental effect at first..good..but odd.

 

[djs2000]

Is anyone taking ALA?

I personally take 1g on WO days.

 

[Aeternitatis]

Anybody who says antioxidants are no good is a fool. What do you think would happen to our cells if we got no antioxidants?

I just want to point out the things like vit C and E are all good, but the real power is in phytonutrients like anthocyanins (sp?). So have your fresh dark berries such as cherries, boysenberries, blue berries and just about any plant that is colorful all the way through its flesh.

I also want to point out that going above 400iu of E can turn pro-oxidant and taking ascobic acid (vit C) is not nearly as effective as taking mineral ascorbates. Low dose (~200mg) r-ALA is also nice for preserving antioxidants I think. Seriously though, phytonutrients is still where it's all at.

 

[thanatopsis]

I occasionally eat this Kashi cereal called "Heart to Heart" that has Green Tea and Grape Seed extract in it, among a bunch of other good things. I also supplement with Green Tea.

 

[IntensePump]

It is difficult for me to tell the exact affect that antioxidants are having on my body.

I have been using C for a few weeks.

I just started using NAC and KR-ALA yesterday.

Looks like I might be getting some E to go along with it.

 

[bige211]

I work at a vitamin world, and I was ready to start useing green tea bec of all of its fat burning properties, plus its positive health effects. Then I read an article about its natural ability to " Lower Testosterone Levels." I dont know if anyones done any more research or anything on how signifintaly it effects t levels but i'm gonna start checking up now.

 

[John Smeton]

I take 200 mgs of ALA postraining.not the good kind r-k-ala..just spring valeys Ala brand

used to take nac ; that seemed to work well with my body

vitiman c i take 3-5 grams a day

and a Multi of course.

Is anyone taking ALA?

I personally take 1g on WO days.

 

[-2z-]

Vitamin C (high doses)
Vitamin E
Green Tea

All antioxidants I swear by, and use everyday.

That's about what I use.

 

[TheTom]

Changed my life.

From ages 5-16 whenever I would get a cold or flu (probably once every 3-4 months), they would always last for like 2-3 weeks. I started bodybuilding around the age of 15 and learned a lot about vitamins minerals.

Now whenever I get a cold or flu, I take 2g of vitamin C and 1 multivitamin every 2-3 hours until I goto bed. Mind you, I only take those doses when I'm sick.

I know it sounds like overkill but I have never been sick for over 3 days since I was 16 years old using these kinds of regimines. Not once.

You can check out my current age next to my post count.

If that ain't a miracle, I don't know what is!

 

[mtruther]

Just out of curiosity, am I the only one who gets a rather unpleasent (for lack of a less graphic term) anal discharge when taking larger doses of green tea extract?

I start dosing around 1 g at a time, and it gets not so fun.

Seems if I stick to around 330 mg at a time that I'm okay.

It took me a long while to figure out what was going on, but when I dropped the green tea extract, the problem disappears. Start it up, bang.

I still use it. I definitely like its effects. I also supp with vitamin C and E, though I don't really notice their effects.

 

[ss01]

Yeah, green tea does something strange to me also when I take too much at a time. ALA is also another one that one should be careful about. A few weeks ago I had bouts of nausea and about zero appetite (well, this part MIGHT be useful) because I was having 2.4g of ALA (not the r-ALA). Reduced the dose to about 1.5 to 1.8 gram a day and I'm good.

mtruther, I'm guessing if you STOPPED using C and E for a week or so, you would notice the effect THEN. If you train hard, that is.

 

[jeezlouis]

have any of you guys heard of protandim?its expensive but its supposed to be the best

 

[Aeternitatis]

Anyone have any experience with Idebenone?

 

[blondebombshell]

I don't feel a difference when I stop taking them but my skin looks a lot better when I do. That's worth it to me.

 

[ss01]

Do you lift HARD, blondebombshell? My ex-wife lifted pretty hard and when she began taking them, bam, her lifts and definition, energy levels, skin, EVERYTHING was made almost instantly better...

 

[jeezlouis]

HEY GUYS HAVE ANY OF YOU HEARD OF PROTANDIM ITS EXPENSIVE BUT FROM WHAT THE WEBSITE SAYS THERES NO BEATING IT
JUST WANT YOUR OPINION

 

[faustus]

Follow the formula and diy.

Nothing fanciful.

Faustus

 

[Knowbull]

In theory and application protandim sounds good, some of these supps have unpleaseant sides for some people, mostly gastrointestinal in nature. A person has to experiment and see what works for them and remember to take breaks from all supps on a regular basis IMO

 

[Rogue Drone]

...

 

[bioman]

That's not a bad price all things considered. I just mixed up a custom blend of Bilberry, Grapeseed, Broccoli Extract and SOD..that was expensive. I took several doses of plain SOD and wow, you can feel it go to work not unlike that very first dose of grapeseed extract.

I'll probably just go with Life Extension's Mix from now on. That would save me buying multiple bottles of stuff..vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. It's expensive but it is very highly regarded.

 

[Aeternitatis]

I think in some of the best antioxidants are Acai fruit extract/concentrate, Pomegranate concentrate, and blackberry concentrate. Mix some of this with something to reduce glycation (like carnosine), and some ALCAR with k-r-ala and you really are set for a good long life.

Adding a good broccoli concentrate would be nice. And medicinal adaptogenic herbs like polygonum and gynostemma will round it off very nicely.

In fact, mix all of this together with some Xylitol and stevia (both have health benefits aside from reducing sugar intake), and you'll actually have a pretty good tasting "immortality" drink.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! :nutkick:

 

[psimonkey]

Daily
Vit C 4000 mgs
Vit E mixed tocopherols 500 mgs
Green tea conc ex 660 mgs
Grape seed conc ex 660 mgs
Gynostemma p. conc ex 750 mgs
Milk Thistle conc ex 500 mgs
Polyganum m. conc ex 100 mgs
NAC 500 mgs
Co-Q10 50 mgs
Selegiline 1 mg
ALA 100 mgs
Piracetam 3000 mgs
Spirulina 3000 mgs
Tumeric 3000 mgs

Breakfast seems to go on forever with the amount of pills I take. Most thinks I can mix into a drink, which tastes like a karmic payback from a previous life but
I dont want to become "me"-oxide.
It definitely made/makes a differents to recovery, mental state, immune response and over sense of well being.