more on supplements: helpful or harmful?

[Guest guest]

Antioxidant supplements may offer men some protection.

• THE QUESTION Eating lots of fruit and vegetables is believed to help

protect against cancer and heart disease, thanks in part to the antioxidants

present in these foods. Would similar protection result from taking a

comparable amount of supplements?

• THIS STUDY randomly assigned about 13,000 adults, 35 to 60 years old,

to take an antioxidant supplement or a placebo daily. The supplement

included ascorbic acid, or vitamin C (120 milligrams), vitamin E (30

milligrams), beta carotene (6 milligrams), selenium (100 micrograms) and

zinc (20 milligrams). After an average of 7 1/2 years, cardiovascular

disease and cancer were similar for the two groups. However, when the

researchers compared the effects of the supplements by sex, they discovered

that the men who took the supplements were 31 percent less likely to develop

cancer than the women who did so.

• WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Men, especially those who eat

less fruit and fewer vegetables than recommended.

• CAVEATS Some earlier studies have suggested that antioxidant

supplements may be harmful in high doses; this study used lower doses,

equivalent to a diet high in fruit and vegetables. At the start of the

study, the men had lower levels of beta carotene and vitamin C than the

women. Cancer risk was not a criterion for participating in the study.

• BOTTOM LINE Men whose diet does not include many fruits and vegetables

may want with talk to a doctor about antioxidant supplements.

• FIND THIS STUDY Nov. 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine;

abstract available online at www.archinternmed.com.

• LEARN MORE ABOUT antioxidants and other supplements at

www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsourceandwww.mayoclinic.com.

-- Searing