Antioxidant supplements boost overall health

In healthy individuals, supplementation with antioxidants appear to improve overall health, driven mainly by better sleep, reports a new study.

Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial, enrolling 155 healthy adults (aged 20–65 years, 76.73 percent women). Eighty-three were assigned to the antioxidant supplement group, which was given at a 60-mL daily dose lasting for 60 days; the remaining 72 participants were assigned to the control group which was given no supplement. The primary study endpoint was overall health, as quantified by the Physical Health Questionnaire (PHQ).

After the 60-day intervention period, average PHQ scores increased by 6.30 points in the antioxidant group, while scores in controls dropped by a mean of 3.49 points. Independent samples t test revealed that these changes were statistically significant (p=0.029).

Looking at the individual domains of PHQ revealed that sleep could account for much of the supplement’s significant beneficial effects.

In particular, those in the antioxidant arm saw a 2.77-point drop in sleep domain scores, suggestive of big improvements as regards sleep interruptions. In comparison, sleep improved by only 0.90 points in controls after 60 days. These changes were significant (p=0.005), with a Cohen’s d of 0.54.

Moreover, over the course of the study, 23 participants developed respiratory illnesses, 12 of whom belonged to the antioxidant arm. Symptoms lasted much longer among controls, though the difference failed to reach significance (mean, 3.09 vs 1.58 days; p=0.119). Similarly, logistic regression analysis revealed that controls were more than five times more likely to develop moderate-to-severe respiratory illnesses than comparators taking antioxidant supplements.