Why Not Advise People To Take Antioxidant Vitamins?
Dr. Steinberg raises the question of whether “we” (the “authorities”) should advise people to take supplemental antioxidant vitamins. He concedes that natural antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene are “generally considered not to be toxic’: which he says raises the question “Why not?” He then proceeds to give what he considers to be “good reasons why not. ” Here are his reasons:”First, I think we must not make exceptions to the rule that recommendations to our patients must be backed by proof of a clear benefit to be conferred . . . My own conviction is that proof must include at least some valid clinical intervention trials demonstrating the magnitude of the benefit to be obtained in humans.”A second reason for rejecting the ‘Why not?’ argument is that we do not have data showing the long-term (and presumably lifetime) intake of very large doses of natural antioxidants will not be toxic . . . . Having inadequate data on the benefit to be expected, we should hesi
