Science Memes

11243 readers

3518 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules

Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
Keep it rooted (on topic).
No spam.
Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.

Research Committee

[email protected]

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

936

Oxygen (mander.xyz)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

102 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I'm just going to ask because I think this is true but I'm not certain and nobody's talking about it. Antioxidants are BS right?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

A bit Overblown, but not really bs, from what I researched a bit ago

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress#Diseases

Antioxidants may help with some of those conditions, but others are based on such underlying dysfunction that it would be like trying to bailing out a boat with big hole in the side. They're just not gonna do anything for you.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

The dietary antioxidant fad is mostly BS. They're supposedly meant to counteract oxidative stress and specifically free radicals. Both of those things are part of a healthy life and you would die without them. So any real impact is not so simple as "just counteract those bad things". Dietary antioxidants don't always lead to higher intracellular antioxidant levels, either.

Some dietary antioxidants so lead to higher intracellular levels and may help buffer oxidative stress (like from exercise) but there isn't much evidence that it doesn't just boil down to "eating your vegetables is good for you".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Sleeping more (and in tact with your circadial rhytm) and drinking more water keeps the radicals at a lower level tho, keeping you healthier in age. That or fasting like a fakir your whole life, keeping your cells in an "safe energy and clean up" mode.

Edit: radicals, not oxidants

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

You need oxidants to live. Issues stemming from oxidants are about levels of free radicals getting too high in the wrong places for too long.

Getting good sleep, eating a balanced diet, reducing stress, and getting enough exercise are the best ways to reduce the chances of such a scenario. Realistically, these things are also just a way to maximize wellness and health overall and it is probably not very useful for most people to think of this in terms of oxidation.

[–] rhombus 1 points 2 months ago

It’s not that free radicals are good (they are necessary, but excess free radicals are definitely bad), but more so that there is no solid research to suggest that dietary antioxidants have any effect whatsoever. All the studies that show any beneficial effect have been shown to have major flaws or have not been able to be reproduced consistently.