Some 13,017 French men and women (aged 35-60 years) were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, a daily nutritional supplement or placebo for a median of 7.5 years. The supplement provided daily 120 mg of ascorbic acid, 30 IU of vitamin E, 6 mg of beta-carotene, 100 mcg of selenium (as selenium-enriched yeast), and 20 mg of zinc (as zinc gluconate). Among the group as a whole there were no significant differences in incidence of total cancers, ischemic heart disease, or all-cause mortality. When total cancer incidence was analyzed according to gender, however, a protective effect of antioxidants was seen in men (relative risk [RR] = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53-0.91) but not in women (RR = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.85-1.29). A similar trend was observed for all-cause mortality in men (RR = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.42-0.93) and women (RR = 1.03; 95% CI, 0.64-1.63).

Comment: The results of this study indicate that a low-dose antioxidant supplement taken for a median of 7.5 years reduced the incidence of cancer by 31% and all-cause mortality by 37% in men. In contrast, no beneficial effect was seen in women. The different results seen in men and women may be due to the fact that men have lower baseline levels of certain antioxidants, especially beta-carotene, than women do.

These findings are encouraging, considering the spate of bad news that has recently appeared regarding antioxidant supplementation. The most widely publicized negative study, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2005;142:37–46), suggested that high-dose vitamin E supplementation (400 IU/day or more) increases all-cause mortality. As I pointed out in an editorial about that study (see Healthnotes Newswire, at http://www.emersonecologics.com), important flaws render the study's conclusions questionable. Furthermore, if long-term use of high-dose alpha-tocopherol does have a small negative effect in some people, the same is probably not true of mixed tocopherols (the form in which vitamin E occurs naturally in food).

Hercberg S, et al. The SU.VI.MAX Study: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the health effects of antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Arch Intern Med 2004;164:2335-2342.