Hats off to Misha Angrist over at Genome Boy for bringing this fascinating story about personal genomic experiments that ran in Nature Medicine to my attention. Raymond McCauley and a small team of DIY-researchers wanted to know how effective different types of vitamins were for clearing "undesirable" amino acids from their bodies. One of the supplements they investigated was a standard, over-the-counter vitamin B tablet. But the other, was a more highly active B vitamin, called L-methylfolate. McCauley's genetic profile differed from the rest of his team in two particular SNPs (he was homozygous at both locations).
Read MoreI think many of us assume that if experts say that Vitamin C can boost the immune system, then grabbing a 500mg bottle at your local health nutrition store must be a good idea. I know I've been guilty of this mindset. But it turns out that if you exercise, taking antioxidant vitamins might not be in your best interest. There was a good summary by Derek Lowe at 'In The Pipeline' about a new PNAS paper that argues against popping vitamins while engaged in an exercise routine. The study found that the experimental group that took a combination of Vitamin C and Vitamin E actually lost some of the inherent benefits of exercise, such as changes in insulin sensitivity and formation of natural antioxidants. My only criticism of the study is that Vitamin C is capable of regenerating Vitamin E, so I wonder whether this phenomenon will carry through for all supplemental antioxidants, or if it's limited to the particular vitamins used in this study.
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