Some Supplements May Increase Your Risk of Lung Cancer
New Research on Supplements
Many of us take vitamin and mineral supplements thinking we are doing something good for our health. After all, we have heard the claims that certain supplements may reduce the risk of this disease or prevent that disease. Take a walk down the dietary supplement aisle in your local grocery store and the health claims will jump out at you. However, we don’t really know how these supplements impact our health, which leads to the question: can vitamin supplements ever be bad for you?
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say yes, some supplements may do more harm than good. In a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers found that certain supplements actually increased the risk of lung cancer in adults between the ages of 50 and 76 years. In particular, frequent use of beta-carotene, lutein and retinol supplements was associated with a higher risk, especially in smokers.
The study took place in Washington state, and relied on participants to fill out questionnaires detailing their multivitamin and supplement intake over the last 10 years. The study participants were also tracked for several years to determine their rates of lung cancer.
The increased risk for lung cancer appears to be very significant, especially for lutein supplements. The study determined that use of lutein supplements for longer than four years increased a smoker’s risk of lung cancer by a whopping 102 percent. Use of retinol supplements for longer than four years also increased a participant’s risk of lung cancer—by 52 percent compared to the general population. The researchers concluded that beta carotene, retinol and lutein should not be taken by smokers looking to prevent lung cancer.
These results echo conclusions made back in 2004. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center conducted a follow-up on adults who had participated in a large clinical trial testing the effects of beta-carotene and vitamin A supplements on smokers. Six years after the original study, participants who had taken these supplements still had a 12 percent greater risk of developing lung cancer than participants who took a placebo.
What To Do
This study illustrates one of the serious drawbacks of vitamin and mineral supplements—we don’t know precisely what effect they have on our health. So what should we do? Always talk to your doctor before you start taking any multivitamin or individual vitamin or mineral supplement. Your doctor can evaluate your unique health situation and decide if certain supplements may be beneficial for your condition. Taking supplements without doctor supervision may be dangerous, and may lead to unintended consequences–as this new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill illustrates.
Never start taking a supplement because of health claims listed on the packaging. Remember, the FDA does not regulate supplements, so any health claims made by supplement manufacturers are not verified by a regulatory or governmental agency. Lab testing of several major brands has found that some supplements may not even contain the ingredients they are promoting.
Eat a varied diet full of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Getting your nutrients, minerals and vitamins from whole foods will always be healthier than taking them in supplement form.