Not so preventative: Antioxidant vitamins may still be good for you, but the evidence linking them to cancer protection is waning.
Credit: iStockphoto
SELECT researchers studied the supplements' effects over seven years on some 35,533 men, aged 50 years or older.
"It may be time to give up the idea that the protective influence of diet on prostate cancer risk can be emulated by isolated dietary molecules given alone or in combination to middle-aged and older men," said Gann.
The authors of the research said that further "large-scale, randomised trials" must be conducted on the use of vitamin supplements and cancer.
Until that next generation of trials, "physicians should not recommend selenium or vitamin E or any other antioxidant supplements to their patients for preventing prostate cancer," said Gann.
With AFP.
vitamins and cancer
Vitamins are vital and Minerals that matter.
Today orthomolecular role of vitamins is so very well understood. Certain studies showing few adversities just cannot be generalized against role of vitamins and antioxidants.
Still there is a lot to understand .let us not conclude on a few pre-conceived notions.
Talluri Vijai Kumar
Antioxidants may not protect against cancer
Once again, we do not know what to believe. First antioxidants made a difference. Now research suggests that they may be a waste of money.
I am not a researcher so I'm probably not going to spend hours reading up on this study. But here is something I am wondering about: Did the study use the a-tocopherol synthetic form of vitamin E that's about half as effective as the mixed tocopherol form? This might have a negative impact on the outcome of the study. Anyway, I would not trust these researchers with my life.
Eating foods rich in vitamins are much better than just taking the solitary vitamins and then thinking they are magical elixirs to cure all ailments.
Daniel,
South Africa
anti-oxidants
For Australians we have two strikes against us. First our soil is one of the worst in the world for plant, vegetable and fruit nutrition. Secondly, our supermarket storage and delivery systems for fresh fruit and vegatables tends to favour selecting fruits and some veg before they are fully developed. Also, as we get older we are less capable of absorbing the full nutritional value of what we eat. Hence the comment about natural and synthetic vit E. The synthetic is harder to absorb.(filtered water helps by the way and so does your PH factor, acid is bad news.) Vit C has other qualities (read Linus Pauling a great advocate of Vit C. He is also a double Nobel Prize winner.) What has been long established is that anti-oxidants are great free-radical fighters! While younger people can get away without nutritional supplements, older people are more vulnerable.
(Ken Bullock author)