On Feb 28, 2007, at 2:03 pm, Adrienne Smith wrote:

> Quenching free radicals is why many of us gobble antioxidant rich
> veggies/fruits/tea etc and supplement with vitamins etc.  Dr. Segal  
> claim
> s
> that doing so may not be such a good idea -- link below.  Thoughts? I
> figured this was on-topic given that the overwhelming view is that  
> fruits
>
> and veggies are and important part of a paleoish diet.

I'm sure there are lots of benefits to eating fruit and veg - they  
wouldn't taste nice if there weren't - but they are far from  
essential.  Again, thanks goes to the Inuit for demonstrating how  
people can live healthily in situations most people consider  
impossible.  If I'm right, the Masai also did not traditionally eat  
vegetables, considering them only suitable as cattle fodder.

I still believe that all food supplements are a waste of time.   
Anything that is essential to human life must be easily obtainable  
from a natural diet.  However I'd be surprised if they were harmful.   
The article only says "At least two US studies published in 2001  
suggested that antioxidant supplements interfere with the protective  
action of cholesterol-lowering drugs", and anyone that thinks people  
should be taking cholesterol-lowering drugs in the first place is  
clearly not qualified to comment on dietary supplements.

Ashley