When I turned on the T.V. the other day, the Dr. Oz Show was on. Usually the show doesn’t interest me but today he had a segment called “5 Wrong Turns That Lead To Cancer”. His number one most common thing that we do that leads to cancer was taking too much vitamin E supplements. I instantly became interested since I often take supplements.He explained that vitamin E is a known antioxidant, but large amounts of vitamin E will act as an anti-antioxidant and damage DNA which leads to cancer. A recent study says moderate to high doses of vitamin E led to a "slight but significant increase" in lung cancer risk. Even the American Cancer Society recommends that cancer patients avoid the use of supplements.
Dr. Christopher Slatore and his colleagues state that such intake increased the rate of lung cancer by about 28% at a dose of 400mg/day for 10 years. Also note though, this trend was most prominent among smokers. What could the link be between vitamin E and smoking? Perhaps it is because smokers are often encouraged to take supplements since smoking destroys certain vitamins. This article says smokers need to take extra antioxidants to protect the body against free radicals. So perhaps smokers are told to take excessive amounts of supplements to stay healthy, when in fact it is increasing their rate of getting lung cancer.
But what if you’re a nonsmoker and want to take vitamin E supplements? The answer is it is alright to continue taking supplements. In fact, many articles are saying taking vitamin E supplements reduce risk of colon cancer and breast cancer.
Other articles though, say supplements don’t reduce cancer risks. Henry Scowcroft, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said "The jury's still very much out on whether vitamin and mineral supplements can affect cancer risk.”
So in conclusion, I think it is safe to say smokers should limit their vitamin E supplement intake and everyone else should think of supplements neither as a prevention against cancer nor a cause. And indeed Dr. Oz was very wrong by saying that taking vitamin E supplements largely causes cancer.
But what if you’re a nonsmoker and want to take vitamin E supplements? The answer is it is alright to continue taking supplements. In fact, many articles are saying taking vitamin E supplements reduce risk of colon cancer and breast cancer.
Other articles though, say supplements don’t reduce cancer risks. Henry Scowcroft, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said "The jury's still very much out on whether vitamin and mineral supplements can affect cancer risk.”
So in conclusion, I think it is safe to say smokers should limit their vitamin E supplement intake and everyone else should think of supplements neither as a prevention against cancer nor a cause. And indeed Dr. Oz was very wrong by saying that taking vitamin E supplements largely causes cancer.
