Critics Slam Vitamin E Study

Over the last few months, vitamins have gotten a very bad rap. Especially Vitamin E intake and those who smoke.
“The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that over the course of a decade there was a 5% increased risk of developing lung cancer for every 100mg of vitamin E supplement taken daily.”
At first glance, you might start to question your Vitamin E supplementation if you indeed take it. Especially if you are reading this post and are a current smoker. But hold on… there’s more.
But one leading expert in vitamin E, Professor Maret Traber from Oregon State University, pointed out that in spite of the researchers’ conclusion, the abstract from the study admitted: “The risk of supplemental vitamin E was largely confined to current smokers.”
“It would seem the best strategy [for avoiding lung cancer] is to quit smoking,” she said.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition said: “These results must be placed in the proper context. There is an unequivocal connection between smoking and increased lung cancer risk. Within this cohort, current smokers were 2,400% more likely to develop lung cancer. Contrast that with a trend toward a 5% increase in risk that the researchers observed with supplemental vitamin E — and this was mainly isolated to high vitamin E and mainly in current smokers. The headline associated with this study should simply be ‘Smokers at risk.'”
It’s interesting how an entire industry can be shaken up by just a single study.
News story on Vitamin E Study