diets
Vitamin E: Cancer Cause or Cure?
Saturday, November 1st, 2008If you are to believe the recent news, taking vitamin E may lead to prostate cancer and taking selenium to diabetes, in men. The National Cancer Institute’s recent SELECT study was expected to show vitamin E reduced risk of prostate cancer in men, just as other studies show. The study was stopped early because men taking the vitamin E suffered slightly more cases of prostate cancer and those on the selenium had slightly more diabetes.
The vitamin E used in this study was the synthetic form: dl-alpha tocopherol acetate. Health professionals who read the medical and nutrition literature have known for many years this form of vitamin E is toxic and may lead to cancer. It should be off the market. But it’s cheap and helps the PR efforts of pharmaceutical companies in turning consumers against helpful supplements.