(6)

Caused a 68% increase skin cancer in women. For melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, there was a 400% increase among the women taking antioxidant supplements. The Supplementation in Vitamins and Mineral Antioxidants trial recruited 7,876 women ages 35 to 60 and 5,141 men ages 45 to 60. Participants were randomly assigned to take either a daily capsule containing 120 mg of ascorbic acid, 30 mg of vitamin E, 6 mg of beta carotene, 100 mcg of selenium, and 20 mg of zinc or placebo. Participants were followed-up for a median of 7.5 years. The authors had previously reported that supplementation with antioxidants (beta carotene, ascorbic acid, vitamin E, selenium, and zinc) did not reduce cancer incidence, cardiovascular disease, or all cause mortality compared with placebo.(7, 8)