RICHARD L. HILL, "Vitamin C reduces loss of vitamin E in smokers, OSU
researchers report", The Oregonian, February 15, 2006,
Link:
http://www.***.com/

Vitamin C supplements can significantly curb the loss of vitamin E in
smokers, according to an Oregon study.

The research also shows for the first time that the two vitamins work
together in the human body, according to scientists with the Linus
Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

"We're hoping to get people to recognize that smoking is a dangerous
behavior," said Maret Traber, a study co-author and an OSU professor of
nutrition. "And if you can't stop smoking, at least get enough
antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E."

Traber, an expert on vitamin E, said the findings also have
implications for nonsmokers in disease prevention.

"I'm e{*filter*}d that this study is the first to demonstrate that E and C
'talk to each other' inside the human body," Traber said. "Some trials
only look at one nutrient in isolation as if nutrients were {*filter*},
which is the wrong approach. This study shows the protection we get
from a proper diet or supplements often comes from nutrients working
together."

The study, paid for by the National Institutes of Health, is described
in today's issue of the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. The
research team also included scientists from Ohio State University, the
University of Washington, Columbia University and Brock University in
Canada.

Last year, institute researchers found that vitamin E disappears more
quickly in smokers than nonsmokers, which may help explain how smoking
can lead to cancer. Cigarette smoke is an oxidant that creates free
radicals.

Vitamins C and E, which are found in a variety of foods, reduce the
oxidative stress that occurs when oxygen is modified chemically to a
more reactive form called a free radical. Free radicals can damage
cells and have been implicated in many chronic diseases, including
heart disease, Alzheimer's and cancer.

Study participants included 11 smokers and 13 nonsmokers from the
Corvallis area. To reduce their vitamin C levels, participants were
asked to eat few fruits and vegetables for three months. Some then were
given 500 milligrams of vitamin C twice daily for 17 days, and others
were given a placebo. Smokers who received the supplements reduced the
rate of disappearance of vitamin E from their {*filter*} plasma by as much
as 45 percent.

The study's authors say smokers should strive to eat a diet each day
with recommended dietary allowances of 15 milligrams of vitamin E, and
110 milligrams of vitamin C for women smokers, and 125 milligrams of
vitamin C for men smokers.

"The work is significant because it demonstrates clearly, for the first
time, that vitamin C spares vitamin E in humans," said Garry R.
Buettner, a chemistry professor at the University of Iowa who studies
vitamins C and E.

"Chemical mechanisms for this have been demonstrated in the lab, but
this work shows that this happens in people," said Buettner, who has an
accompanying commentary article in the journal. "The data indicate that
the {*filter*} mechanism is probably due to the recycling of vitamin E by
vitamin C."

Traber said researchers plan to examine oxidative stress in obese
people to determine whether they require more vitamin E than nonobese
people.