Originally published October 3 2005
Beta-carotene helps protect non-smokers from tobacco-related cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports that beta-carotene greatly aids non-smokers in the prevention of tobacco-related cancers, while it may actually increase the risk of cancer for current and former smokers.
The new study, which is reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, involved an evaluation of beta-carotene intake for 59,910 women who were followed for about 7 years to assess cancer occurrence.
During follow-up, 700 women developed tobacco-related cancers, such as lung cancer or head and neck cancer.
Among never smokers, consuming a diet containing moderate amounts of beta-carotene cut the risk of cancer by up to 28 percent.
Taking beta-carotene supplements reduced the risk by 56 percent.
Just the opposite effect was seen in current or past smokers.
In this group, consuming a diet containing moderate amounts of beta-carotene increased the risk of cancer by up to 43 percent.
Taking beta-carotene supplements more than doubled the risk of cancer.
"We were surprised at the completely opposite effect high beta-carotene intake had on cancer risk depending on whether you had never smoked or ever smoked," Boutron-Ruault noted.
"We plan on doing a larger study with more cancer cases, a larger variety of doses of beta-carotene and tobacco, and both men and women" to verify and expand on the current findings, she added.
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