Maybe Newsweek should just stay away from writing about health.

I mean, could you possibly botch things up any more than they did when they published an article claiming that antioxidants "may not be good for your health"?

Their article, called "Antioxidants Fall From Grace," was published in the January 25 issue. And of course, our very own Dr. Wright jumped on it immediately. Writing for the Alliance for Natural Health, Dr. Wright calls out Newsweek on their poor journalism and downright ignorance.

And he certainly doesn't hold back. After he points out that the only "expert" they could dig up for the article (a science writer and blogger, not a professor who spends his life in the research lab) doesn't really understand how antioxidants work, it's all downhill from there.

Newsweek has the origin of free radicals partially right -- they are in fact generated by normal metabolism (red meat being a primary provider) and have been from our beginnings. But they completely ignore the fact that great excesses of free radicals are generated from environmental sources that are pretty new in the grand scheme of things.

From refined carbs to artificial flavorings and colorings to preservatives to water fluoridation to electromagnetic fields, our bodies are getting more than their fair share of free radicals -- far more than what is "natural." Of course we need to balance this out with antioxidants.

Oh, but Newsweek has evidence! Three studies prove that antioxidants are bad for us! Okay, so the first one is summed up as saying antioxidants need to be reevaluated for their detrimental effect. Conveniently, Newsweek paraphrased this from the original research, which stated that the particular plant material studied functioned as both an antioxidant and a pro-oxidant and must be investigated in terms of the latter.

The second study, they say, shows that antioxidants could promote atherosclerosis. Pretty scary, until you get to the part where the researchers are actually talking about NF-E2 Related Factor 2, which has never and will never be a component of any diet or supplement -- it's produced by our vascular cells!

Finally, there's the claim that antioxidants "might impair fertility." In fact, this broad statement is based on a study in which two "broad-range scavengers of oxidative species" were injected into rats' ovaries (which is not, mind you, how anyone I know takes their supplements).

One of the two was N-acetylcysteine, which has components that are actually GOOD for fertility (when, of course, taken in the usual way). The other was butylated hydroxyanisole, a food additive that is anticipated to be a human carcinogen.

Of course, as always, Dr. Wright's recommendation is that nature's way is the best way. Antioxidants rarely appear in nature alone -- rather, they are most often grouped in foods. The best source for them, then, is whole foods, with supplementation as needed.

Oh, and if you're looking for good health advice, don't pick up a copy of Newsweek!

If you're not a subscriber but want to stay on top of Dr. Wright's mainstream call-outs (not to mention the very best natural health solutions around), go to www.wrightnewsletter.com to learn how you can start receiving his monthly newsletter, Nutrition & Healing.

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