Vitamins 'may shorten your life':
The trials involved 233,000 people who were either sick or were healthy and taking supplements for disease prevention.After various factors were taken into account and a further 20 studies excluded, the researchers linked vitamin A supplements to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a 7% increased risk and vitamin E to a 4% increased risk.
Vitamin C did not appear to have any effect one way or the other, and the team said more work was needed into this supplement — as well as into selenium.
In conclusion, “we found no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention,” they said.
It was unclear exactly why the supplements could have this effect, but the team speculated that they could interfere with how the body works: beta-carotene, for instance, is thought to change the way a body uses fats.