Vitamin or mineral supplements should not substitute for a balanced and nutritious diet designed to limit excess calories, saturated fat and dietary cholesterol.

This dietary approach has been shown to decrease risk of coronary heart disease both in healthy people and in those with evidence of coronary disease.

Understanding Antioxidant Vitamins

There is current interest in antioxidant vitamins (E, C and A) due to suggestions from large scientific studies comparing healthy adults consuming large amounts of these vitamins with those who did not choose to do so.

These observations are subject to bias and do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Certainly, scientific evidence does not suggest that consuming antioxidant vitamins can replace or modify the goal of reducing blood pressure, lowering serum cholesterol and stopping cigarette smoking.