India Herbs

Publication: ctv.ca

Date: 28 February, 2007  

A review of almost 70 studies suggests some antioxidant vitamin supplements may actually be harmful to your health.

“For certain we will make people think about taking supplements, I hope,” Dr. Christian Gluud of Copenhagen University Hospital, the review’s lead author, told CTV News.

“I also expect a number of people to make the decision that there is no reason to continue to take them.”

The research suggests that beta carotene, selenium and vitamins C, A and E do not help people live longer, contrary to popular belief.

Between 80 million to 160 million people in Canada, the U.S. and Europe take antioxidants. That’s up to 20 per cent of adults, according to the study, which will be published in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to Information Resources Inc., last year Americans spent $2.3 billion on nutritional supplements and vitamins at drug stores, grocery stores and retail outlets — with the exception of Wal-Mart.

The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group at Copenhagen University Hospital led the review. Researchers looked at 68 studies examining 232,606 people.

Forty-seven of those studies, which involved 180,938 people randomly taking real or fake vitamins, hinted that some supplements may increase the risk of death: 16 per cent for vitamin A, seven per cent for beta carotene and four per cent for vitamin E.

But those studies did not find an actual cause of death, and some of the volunteers took extremely high doses that exceeded the recommended daily amount.

Gluud told The Associated Press that “in all likelihood, what they died from is what people normally die from: maybe accelerated artherosclerosis, maybe cancer.”

But some experts felt the research was enough to dissuade people from taking antioxidant supplements — or at least too many.

“Not only do antioxidant vitamins not prolong life, but there may be actual harm associated with some vitamins,” said Dr. Eva Lonn, a professor of cardiology at McMaster University.

Supplement manufacturers were quick to point out that the review ignored hundreds of studies where no one died, while some volunteers were chronically ill before they took the vitamins.

“There is a lot of good, hard evidence of the benefits of these nutrients, quite apart from their antioxidant effects,” said Gerry Harrington of the Non Prescription Drug Manufacturers of Canada.

“I think it would be fair to say that the jury is still out.”

Initial studies hinted that antioxidants might block the heart-damaging effects of oxygen on arteries, along with the cell damage that might encourage some forms of cancer, AP reported.

But most experts agree that the most effective way to get antioxidant vitamins is through food like fruits and vegetables.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS