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💊 Antioxidant supplements won’t save your heart

🔨 The jury is out!

Dietitians from the UK, Canada, Australia, and other countries (called the PEN Collaborative Partnership) reviewed many studies on antioxidant supplementation in late August. The study was published in the PEN Journal.

They concluded that taking a combination of antioxidant supplements (e.g., vitamin C, A, E, beta-carotene, selenium, and zinc) has no effect on the prevention or treatment of cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease (CHD), heart attack, and stroke, in healthy adults and those at risk of CVD.

This means that spending lavishly on vitamin supplements to improve heart health is not a magic bullet (who would have thought?)

🏠 Take home message

This is not surprising as supplements contain vitamins are either made in a laboratory or extracted from food (e.g., taking beta-carotene from carrot cells). Many products and supplements are made on the promise of delivering the same amount of nutrients as food. However, this does not consider food quality or the role that whole foods play in health (regardless of what marketing tell you!).

Replacing food with equivalent nutrients is a short-sighted approach to optimal nutrition. Whole foods provide more benefits than just their nutritional composition because of their food matrix (structure) and effects on our body physiology.

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✔️ A better way

Here is an example to illustrate the benefits of whole foods.

Example 1: Whole fruits

Whole fruits contain vitamins that are shielded by fibre within their cells. When we eat whole fruits, the fibre becomes soluble and forms a gel-like network. This slows down digestion and absorption, allowing the vitamins to be released gradually and taken up by the cells. After this, the fibre continues to the large intestine, where it is fermented and benefit the gut bacteria. The food matrix of fruit minimizes the loss or damage of vitamins along the digestive tract. These benefits are completely neglected when taking vitamin C supplements, even if combined with a fibre supplement.

The benefits of whole foods cannot be overstated and here is a great image to illustrate this.

If we spend on whole foods the same money that we would have otherwise spent on supplements, our health would benefit a ‘000’ fold.  

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💸 The invisible price hike

If you live in France, you have an advantage: supermarkets are on your side!

Some French supermarkets have started to flag shrinkflation at the shelf edge.

For context, shrinkflation is when brands sell smaller amounts of a product for the same price as before. It's a sneaky way for brands to hide price increases.

See the example below of a seafood selection priced at 3 x £10, but going from 300g to 250g.

If you go shopping at some French supermarkets, you will notice orange markers at the shelf highlighting when products have decreased in size or weight but not changed (or increased) in price.

🏠 Take home message

Shrinkflation is painful because you are paying more for less. It is common among staple foods such as bread, cereal, beauty products, and confectionery items.

Other supermarkets in other countries may hopefully follow suit, but for now, here are two tips to get around shrinkflation:

1. The best way to compare products is to compare the cost per gram or pound. This allows you to more easily compare the cost of different products and package sizes.

2. Foods with less packaging, such as eggs, fresh fruit, and vegetables, are less affected by shrinkflation.

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😂 And finally!

Exceptional value? Not so much anymore.