Science is the ignorance of the expert (Richard Feynman)

I'll argue that Iannis Ioannidis (1) is not only right, but that -for instanceantioxidant supplements seem to increase overall mortality due to gastrointestinal cancers (2); antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans (3); multivitamin use has little or no influence on the risk of common cancers, CVD, or total mortality in postmenopausal women (3); vitamins and minerals are supplied in abundant amounts in the foods we eat⋯ Except for persons with special medical needs, there is no scientific basis for recommending routine use of dietary supplements (4); long-term or high-dosage consumption of vitamin C may play a role in calcium oxalate kidney stone formation (5). Clinicians need to be alerted to the potential dangers of large dose ingestion of vitamin C in some individuals (5); a physiological increase of oxidative stress has been observed in pregnancy. A routine iron supplement, especially a combined iron and vitamin C supplementation, without biological justifications could therefore aggravate this oxidative risk. These data show that pharmacological doses of iron, associated with high vitamin C intakes, can result in uncontrolled lipid peroxidation (6); overall, the evidence now appears clear. Taking some multivitamins, in particular those containing the antioxidants vitamin E and A (and its precursor beta-carotene), is dangerous and should be avoided by people eating a healthy diet. We therefore caution against taking regular, long term supplementation with the antioxidant vitamins E and A, or any mixture containing them (7), etc.