Women need more antioxidants then men ~ HGH Academy

New study findings suggest that women tend to experience more oxidation than men which, according to research, increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and several other diseases.

Dr. Gladys Block of the University of California tried to address this issue by measuring oxidative damage in 298 healthy adults who ranged in age from 19 to 78. Among these adults, 138 were smokers, 92 were nonsmokers and 68 people reported exposure to secondhand smoke.

The researchers measured levels of two substancesmalondialdehyde and F2-isoprostaneswhich are byproducts produced when fatty substances called lipids are oxidized. These byproducts were taken as markers of the extent of oxidative damage.

The results showed that women displayed a significantly higher of these markers than men. In fact, simply by being the female sex carries along a higher level of oxidative damage than smoking, after adjustment for body mass index.

These findings have raised even more areas of interest among the researchers, especially when taken in light of the fact that women have been found to be at greater risk of lung cancer than men exposed to similar levels of cigarette smoke.

Those who were the healthiest in terms of least oxidative damage were those that consumed the most amounts of fruits. These people generally have higher blood levels of vitamin C and carotenoids--pigments in fruits and vegetables that the body uses to make vitamin A.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, 2002;156:274-285.