How sad. "Antioxidant" vitamins dangerous: "Expensive high-dose antioxidant supplements have no benefits but can increase blood pressure in some people, a pharmacology expert says. Professor Kevin Croft of the University of Western Australia School of Medicine and Pharmacology, said recent research showed there were no benefits from popular high-dose vitamin C and E supplements and a healthy diet would be more beneficial... Prof Croft will tell the Congress of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) in Cairns on Monday that large population studies over many years appeared to create a link between antioxidants in the diet with reduced risk of heart disease. As a result, the use of vitamin C and E supplements was widespread and the industry worth billions of dollars. But recent studies of higher dose supplementation showed no benefits but pointed to potential adverse effects, he said. Perth researchers who looked at people with risk factors for cardiovascular disease said some patients taking high doses of vitamin E had higher blood pressure. Prof Croft said while vitamins C and E were essential for good health, people did not need them in any higher doses than could be gained from a balanced diet."