Research published in the February 15, 2006 issue of the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine found that supplementing smokers with vitamin C can halt the depletion of vitamin E that occurs in this population. Vitamin E offers protection to the lungs from free radicals created by smoking, but can itself be transformed into a destructive free radical without adequate vitamin C.

Prior to the double-blind trial, researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University asked 11 smokers and 13 nonsmokers to consume a diet containing low amounts of fruits and vegetables for three months to create a vitamin C depleted state. Participants were then given 500 milligrams vitamin C or a placebo twice daily for two weeks. The team found that smokers who received vitamin C had a plasma vitamin E disappearance rate similar to that of nonsmokers, but those who received a placebo and were therefore deficient in vitamin C lost the form of vitamin E known as alpha-tocopherol 25 percent more rapidly than nonsmokers and gamma-tocopherol about 45 percent faster.

The research is the first to demonstrate this interaction between the vitamins in humans, and could help explain how smoking causes cancer. Lead researcher and OSU professor of nutrition Maret Traber stated, "A lot of nutrition research in the past has been done by studying one nutrient or another in isolation, sometimes with conflicting results. What this and other studies like it are showing is that the protection we get from proper diet or supplements often comes from combinations of nutrients working together. This has implications not only for smokers but also for many other people."

Dr Traber also noted that many studies showing "no benefit" from vitamin supplements have been done in people with existing disease, but for antioxidants to be successful, they usually have to be present in advance.

—D Dye

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