Millions of americans take vitamin supplements every day. Antioxidant vitamins are a huge part of the sell--on the belief they can help prevent major diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. But now, the American Heart Association says these vitamin supplements may not do a thing for the cardiovascular system.

Millions of Americans take vitamin supplements every day. Antioxidant vitamins sell on the belief they can help prevent major diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. But now, the American Heart Association says these vitamin supplements may not do a thing for the cardiovascular system. It would be better to eat foods containing these vitamins.

For many years, doctors, including cardiologists, have commonly recommended antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin E, to help prevent cardiovascular disease. But a growing body of research shows taking these vitamins in supplement form does not help at all.

The thinking is, antioxidant vitamins soak up so called free radicals, extra electrons that can damage the blood vessels and promote cardiovascular disease. But according to a landmark statement issued by the American Heart Association, as far as antioxidant vitamin supplements go, there is no benefit in terms of cardiovascular health. A thorough review of research conducted on antioxidants between 1994 and 2002 showed that antioxidant supplements largely have no effect on preventing or treating cardiovascular disease.

Tammi Lakatos Shames, a nutritionist, says, “There’s so many factors that come into play when it is your health, when you’re eating a food that contains something like vitamin E you really are getting everything that is packaged with it it’s packaged with fibers, and tons of other fighter nutrients.”

The Heart Association authors do advise to continue to get these vitamins through food sources. Why food sources of vitamins are beneficial and not supplements is still a question mark. “We don’t know yet if it’s the plant chemicals that are actually helping to fight the disease in addition to the vitamin E or the vitamin C or the other antioxidants so when we take that antioxidant out and put it in supplement form we don’t know if it’s doing the trick,” says Shames.

Until those questions are resolved, this review presents the current science and helps clinicians, in New York and other cities, understand that they should not recommend antioxidant supplements to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, this does not imply that antioxidant vitamin supplements are completely without worth. There is still the possibility they can prevent certain forms of cancer.
Shames says, “The jury is not out yet in terms of vitamin supplements we could have the American Cancer Society come out and say you have to get your antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, and supplements won’t cut the mustard.”

While the research shows that antioxidant supplements have no benefit, the role of free radicals in terms of the development of heart disease is not a closed book. The authors of the study, published in the journal Heart, say more studies that are ongoing will help answer questions about the role of antioxidants in atherosclerosis and the potential of antioxidant vitamins.

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