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April 16, 2008

Too Much Of A Good Thing

...can be a bad thing

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Taking antioxidants like vitamins A and E to prolong life may actually have the opposite effect, new research has found.

Taking vitamin supplements in large quanities may actually prove detrimental to your health.

A review of 67 studies involving more than 230,000 people found "no convincing evidence" that the vitamins prolonged life, the Press Association reported.

"Even more, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E seem to increase mortality," according to the researchers.

However, other health specialists said the research was "flawed" and the supplements were safe to take.

The review, published by The Cochrane Collaboration, involved trials on beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium.

The experts said the studies involved different doses of each antioxidant. A total of 232,550 people were involved.

Forty-seven trials included 180,938 people and had a low risk of bias. In these trials with a low risk of bias, the "antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality", the report's authors wrote.

When the different antioxidants were assessed separately and low risk of bias trials were included and selenium excluded, vitamin A was linked to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a seven percent increased risk and vitamin E to a four percent increased risk.

I always chuckle when I read these studies and they say that 'x' "increases risk of dying." Last I checked it's still 100%.

Anyhoo, I guess I'll pass on the Flinstones Chewables now and reach for the one true health tonic:

Posted by Mr. Bingley at April 16, 2008 10:48 AM

Comments

Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at April 16, 2008 04:41 PM

Posted by: Teresa at April 16, 2008 11:29 PM