We all want to live as long as we can and as healthy as possible, so we take on board all the advice given to us, and, if something makes sense to us, we usually act on it.

Increasingly, we find that the advice we receive is not as good as we first thought. Taking antioxidants and flushing out our system with eight glasses of water a day, has been the general advice for some time now, but two unrelated studies now show that they have no health benefit at all. Indeed, antioxidants can shorten our lives.

Many claims have been made that water prevents headaches, removes dangerous poisons, improves the function of various organs and is associated with reduced risk for various diseases. However, none of these claims are supported by scientific evidence. A review of clinical studies found no evidence to support that drinking lots of water had any benefits for a healthy person and couldn't find any scientific study that supported the “eight glasses a day” rule, the origin of this rule remains unknown.

As far as antioxidants go, a total of 67 randomized trials of antioxidant supplements were reviewed and it was found that there was no evidence that they prolonged life, and, conversely, strong evidence that they might shorten it.

The trials included almost a quarter-million participants, including healthy people and those with various diseases. Vitamins A, E and beta carotene were the offending antioxidant supplements. Vitamin C and selenium, the other two vitamins in the review, were found to have had no discernible effect.

The authors stated. “Beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E given singly or combined with other antioxidant supplements significantly increase mortality.”

I don't know why we bother, we all instinctively know what we should be doing, lets face it... it's not rocket science, just good common sense most of the time. Nutrition, nutrition, and yes, nutrition.

If we eat sensibly, a varied nutritionally balanced diet and forget the fast foods, the processed foods, the oils and fats that have been damaged by chemical and heat treatments, then we don't need antioxidant supplements, or to flush out our systems, or colon irrigation, or all the rest of the junk advice we are given. We should trust our own instincts and just be sensible, the best foods are the ones that are altered the least.

Here's an article for good nutritional advice and a great explanation about damaged oils and fats in our food sources, and why we have to avoid them. Have a peek at this Superfast Fitness Program for nutritional and exercise advice to give the quickest results.