Beta carotene pills: no match for the real deal.

It was hoped by many that popping beta-carotene supplements would protect against heart disease and cancer, but research continues to produce disappointing results. Beta carotene, which is found naturally in many fresh fruits and vegetables, is a precursor to vitamin A. While eating lots of the original does reduce risk for those diseases as well as diabetes, take it out of its natural source and its health benefits are lost.

In a recent report from the Nurses Health Study, doctors at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial among nearly 40,000 women 45 years old or older. The women were given either beta-carotene supplements or a placebo for two years. The researchers concluded that for healthy women beta carotene produces neither benefit nor harm for risk of cancer or cardiovascular disease.

In another study, over 22,000 male physicians aged 40 to 84 were randomly assigned to receive either beta carotene or a placebo from 1984 to 1995. The study produced no significant differences between the two groups for the incidence of Type II diabetes--yet another disappointment for beta-carotene advocates.

Once again, the lesson learned is to eat your fruits and vegetables. Popping a pill won't do the trick for lowering your risk of serious disease. The real deal (fruits and vegetables) has been shown over and over again, and without dispute, to provide protection against heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.

Go for the source. Shortcuts just don't do the job.

(Journal of the American Medical Association, 1999, Vol. 282, No. 11, pp. 1973-1975; Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1999, Vol. 91, No. 24, pp. 2101-2106)