Antioxidant supplements: Effects on disease and aging in the United States population.

Ingestion of antioxidant supplements by the United States (US) population has increased steadily since the mid-1950's. This review tried to determine if the supplements have contributed significantly to beneficial changes in the US during this period. Experimental animal studies have demonstrated that anti-oxidant supplements lower the incidence of a wide variety of diseases and increase life span. Anti-oxidants are associated with similar changes in man. Changes since the mid-1950's in the US population include: 1) ingestion of antioxidant supplements has increased from one percent, or less, to 40-50 percent today. Cost: now 4-5 billion dollars per year, 2) disproportionate increases in the percentage of older individuals as average life expectancy at birth (ALE-B) rose, 3) declining chronic disability in the elderly since 1982, 4) declining cancer mortality since 1991, and 5) the decline in the rate of reported cardiovascular disease beginning in the 1950's which significantly increased further in 1965. The last four changes suggest that the rate of increase in physiological age with time has been slowed. This can be attributed to decreases in the rate of accumulation of free radical-induced aging changes by the joint action of antioxidant supplements/dietary measures, and improvements in conventional measures (CM) which increase ALE-B, e.g., better medical care, nutrition, housing, accident prevention. The contribution by antioxidants to decreases in physiological age is seemingly small compared to that of CM. However, it will grow relative to CM as the amount and duration of supplement use increases and improvements in CM raise ALE-B closer to 85 years, the age associated with optimal living conditions.