Starting in 1983, the Life Extension Foundation® warned of dangers associated with commercial multivitamin/mineral formulas.
Our earliest concern was that free radicals generated by supplemental iron would increase cancer and heart disease risk. Our fears were born out shortly thereafter in published studies showing that elevation in markers of iron intake increased risk (by more than fivefold) of common degenerative diseases including heart attack and cancer.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17
Back in 1983, commercial companies bragged in their advertising about how much iron their multivitamins contained. Despite our repeated warnings, very few commercial supplement companies removed iron from their multivitamin formulas as the public perception was that supplemental iron was beneficial.
The result of this misconception was that individuals using commercial supplements were obtaining miniscule quantities of antioxidants to protect against free radicals, while simultaneously ingesting large amounts of iron (and sometimes copper) that are known free radical generators.18
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