"Again, enthusiasts might be tempted to hypothesize that if antioxidants cause weight loss in animals, then they might be good as diet aids in humans (the reader may guess what sort of diet books are now in the "life extension" pipeline). Most food additive experiments, however, have been done with high concentrations of the chemical of interest mixed directly with the animals' food. If humans were forced to eat all foods mixed with unpleasant BHT or evil-smelling 2-MEA, it is probable that rapid weight loss would occur. Ingestion of smaller quantities in tasteless capsules would presumably be ineffective, and no calorie restriction benefit would result. Furthermore, there is the question of toxicity of these substances. If calorie restriction reliably causes extension of maximum life span, and yet artificial antioxidant supplementation, which usually results in calorie restriction, does not -- then one wonders why not. Antioxidant-fed animals, while living longer, are still not living as long as they ought to on the basis of food intake, and one might speculate that some toxicity of the antioxidants is being masked by the physiologic benefits of calorie restriction so that things come out nearly even. If that is so, then the unsuspecting longevist who takes capsules of artificial antioxidants might be missing out on the main benefit of these agents (their bad taste), but might still be in for the full impact of any toxicity they have in store."
