It cd be true...separation & isolation of principal active ingredients
will always be inferior to consuming the whole plant substance...even
with 1000 more years of scientific inquiry, the whole plant substance
will be still be superior...

Haley

It is a meta-analysis. There will be flaws. The wrong types of carotene and
vitamin E would have been used. One should avoid all trans beta carotene
and racemic alpha tocopherol acetate.

DGNews

Antioxidant Supplementation May Reduce Incidence Of Cancer in Men

CHICAGO, IL -- November 22, 2004 -- Low-dose antioxidant
supplementation may reduce the risk of cancer among men, but not in
women, according to an article in the November 22 issue of The Archives
of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to the article, antioxidants including beta carotene,
ascorbic acid, vitamin E, selenium, and zinc may prevent some of the
harmful effects caused by free radicals - reactive molecules produced
by metabolism in the body. It has also been suggested that a low
dietary intake of antioxidants increases the incidence of cancer and
cardiovascular disease.

Serge Hercberg, M.D., Ph.D., of the Institut National de la Sante et de
la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) and Unite de Surveillance et
d'Epidemiologie Nutritionnelle, Paris, and colleagues tested the
efficacy of dietary supplementation with a combination of antioxidant
vitamins and minerals in reducing the incidence of cancer and
cardiovascular disease among 13,017 French adults. There were 7,876
women aged 35 to 60 years old, and 5,141 men ages 45 to 60 years old
included in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to take
either a daily capsule containing 120 milligrams of ascorbic acid, 30
milligrams of vitamin E, six milligrams of beta carotene, 100
micrograms of selenium, and 20 milligrams of zinc; or a placebo
capsule. Participants were followed-up for a median of 7.5 years.

The researchers found no differences between the antioxidant and
placebo group in terms of cancer incidence (4.1 percent of the
antioxidant group vs. 4.5 percent of the placebo group), or in
cardiovascular disease incidence (2.1 percent for the antioxidant group
vs. 2.1 percent for the placebo group) or all-cause death (1.2 percent
for the antioxidant group vs. 1.5 percent for the placebo group).

However, when the researchers looked at cancer incidence according to
sex, they found a significant protective effect of the antioxidants in
men, who were 31 percent less likely to develop cancer than women. A
similar trend was seen in men for death rates.

"After 7.5 years, low-dose antioxidant supplementation lowered total
cancer incidence and all-cause mortality in men but not in women.
Supplementation may be effective in men only because of their lower
baseline status of certain antioxidants, especially of beta carotene,"
the researchers write.

The authors conclude: "... our results suggest that an adequate and
well-balanced supplementation of antioxidant nutrients, at doses that
might be reached with a healthy diet that includes a high consumption
of fruits and vegetables, had protective effects against cancer in
men."

SOURCE: JAMA/Archives Media Relations

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