Vitamin supplements could actually accelerate signs of ageing: study

You may need to pause and think hard before popping that vitamin pill next time. Disturbing evidence from a recent study aims to quash all that we have ever known about vitamin supplements. Instead of being the helpful antioxidants that protect our cells and internal organs from damage caused by free radical molecules, vitamin capsules could actually be a significant cause of premature ageing, claim scientists.

California-based Buck Institute for Research on Ageing published the study this month, which suggested that free radicals are essential for skin healing and healthy regeneration in people under 50. The experiment involved breeding mice with excess free radicals. Contrary to expectations, researchers discovered that the skin quality of the mice improved.

The study’s lead author, Dr Michael Velarde explained that although free radicals do have powers to ‘optimise skin health’, once we pass the age of 50, our cells’ energy stores get depleted and wear out, resulting in the ebbing away of the free radicals’ benefit, reports the Daily Mail. This means that women under 50 who use vitamins C and E to keep their skin young may actually be ageing faster than those who don’t.