November 2004

Nutrition experts challenge vitamin E study

The findings of a study on vitamin E presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association and published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine have cause to be challenged, according to a number of experts on supplementation.

The meta-analysis study of 19 randomized controlled trials suggested that high-dosage vitamin E supplementation increased mortality and the benefits or harms of lower-dosage supplementation wee unclear. The implication of the study, according to the authors, was to avoid high-dosage vitamin E supplementation.

Responding to the study, John Hathcock, PhD, vice president of scientific and international affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) said, “This is an unfortunate misdirection of science in an attempt to make something out of nothing for the sake of headlines.”

The National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA) agreed with Hathcock’s comments. NNFA also pointed out, in a press release, that “although the researchers themselves acknowledged the limitations of their study when applied to most healthy people, they have nevertheless called for a reduction in U.S. dietary guidelines for vitamin E.”

Andrew Halpner, PhD, director of product development and technical services at Douglas Laboratories, also commented on the validity of the study. “It must be noted that this was not a controlled trial that was designed to determine if supplementation with vitamin E increased the risk of death, but rather a meta-analysis, in which previously published studies are reviewed to answer a question not previously asked or fully investigated in the original studies. It is important to note that meta-analyses cannot give definitive answers or establish cause and effect relationships.”

Halpner also noted that the type of vitamin E typically used in the studies surveyed in the meta-analysis “was only the alpha-tocopheral isomer of vitamin E family. Additionally, not all of the studies used the natural form of vitamin E. … We know that there are significant differences in the biochemistry of alpha and non-alpha tocopheral isomers as well as important differences between natural and synthetic vitamin E.”

Responding to the study, the Dietary Suplement Information Bureu (DSIB) launched a new consumer-oriented Web site, www.vitaminEfacts.org, to help consumers obtain accurate information on vitamin E. The Web site provides referenced materials to help consumers understand the analysis-generating news headlines and facts on why vitamin E is safe and beneficial.

The Web site provides:

• Reviews of the meta-analysis describing major flaws in methodology and conclusions presented in the study;

• A vitamin E safety fact sheet from the government’s National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements;

• Advice from physicians and researchers indicating that consumers can feel confident from using 400 IU of vitamin E daily.

The study in question was published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine (www.annals.org). Its full title is “Meta-Analysis: High Dosage Vitamin E Supplementation May Increase All-Cause Mortality.” The authors of this were Edgar R. Miller, III, MD, PhD; Robert Pastor-Barriuso, PhD; et al.

Sources: Annals of Internal Medicine, www.annals.org; Douglas Laboratories, www.douglaslabs.com; National Nutritional Foods Association, www.nnfa.org; Council for Responsible Nutrition, www.crnusa.org; Dietary Supplement Information Bureau, http://www.supplementinfo.org.

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