November 10 , 2004

Despite the literally thousands of studies on vitamin E, many confirming it’s positive effects on cardiovascular health and other conditions, an article published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine that studied just a handful, suggests that “high-dose” vitamin E (400 international units <IU> or more) is associated with a greater risk of dying.

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, which currently recommends and upper limit of 1,500 IU.

The research, which analyzed clinical trial data from 19 studies, focused on nine that involved dosages of vitamin E over 400 IU. Most of the patients in the studies were over 60-years of age and had chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. The reported increased risk of deaths associated with higher doses of vitamin E was only slightly higher than the risk of those not taking the supplement. The studies reviewed, some of which were more than 10 years old, were of varying quality and contained a wide range of dosages.

“This is armchair science at its worst”, said David Seckman, NNFA’s executive director and CEO. “Reasearchers are well aware that casting doubt on any product that has had overwhelmingly positive finidings is a formula for getting noticed. Unfortunately, many in the press are all too willing to lend credence to research that is not conclusive”

Here are some key points regarding the vitamin E study:

??? The authors themselves admit that the research reviewed, which was conducted with older subjects who had chronic illnesses, might not apply to younger, healthy people.

??? This type of review, called a meta-analysis, was a review of other studies, some of which were more than 10 years old and of varying quality. This type of science is only as good as the research on which it is based, which leaves this case questionable.

??? Information was pooled together to barely achieve statistical significance.

??? U.S. dietary guidelines, which tend to be conservative and reflect the totality of scientific evidence on a nutrient, recommend an upper limite of 1,500 IU

???There are various types and compounds of vitamin E, including synthetic and natural forms, which research shows to have varying effects. However, the differences in the effects of varying types of vitamin E were not addressed in this study

??? This study needs to be placed in context. Vitamin E has been studied for many many years and there are literally thousands of citations in the scientific literature. There is solid evidence showing the benefits of vitamin E, including double-blind clinical trials, that report 400 to 800 IU of natural vitamin E can reduce heart attacks

Nutritech’s Position on this study is one of interest only. It is like many studies that really do not take into consideration the years of research that has yielded positive results on vitamin E. Currently we do not feel there is enough evidence to make any changes to the ALL ONE formula in regards to vitamin E.