A Flood of Health Functional Foods: What Is to Be Recommended?

Lee, Eun Sil

People take multivitamin and mineral supplements with an expectation to reduce the incidence rate of chronic disease or cancer as an insufficient intake of antioxidant vitamins and minerals has been identified to increase the occurrence of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The Linxial trial is the leading study that supports this statement. Multivitamin and mineral supplements were given to nutrition-deficient individuals in Linxial area based on the fact that their incidence rates of esophageal and gastric cardia cancers J MM were high. This study was performed to examine whether esophageal and gastric cardia cancers were reduced in patients with esophageal dysplasia that appeared to be a precancerous lesion. According to the results, although multivitamin supplementation did not decrease the incidence of esophageal, gastric and other cancers and cerebrovascular disease and mortality rate in overall, mortality rate was reduced in the group administered with selenium, vitamin E and beta carotene in combination compared with other groups administered with other components. 13 During the 10-year follow-up after stopping multivitamin and mineral supplementation, the effect of combined administration of selenium, vitamin E and beta-carotene persisted in reducing mortality rate, but this effect lasted only in subjects aged below 55 years. 14 In contrast, the intake of antioxidant vitamins and minerals did not lower the incidence of cancer or ischemic heart disease in healthy individuals according to the SU.VI.