For two years I've been taking two 1,000mg evening primrose capsules a day. I've read that overdosing on vitamin E can be dangerous and one capsule gives enough for a day. I'm 42, have a healthy diet, am within my ideal BMI range and take regular exercise. I drink only at weekends and smoke 3-4 cigarettes a day. Am I overdosing on vitamin E?
You are right that you shouldn't overdose on vitamin E. Figures from large, well-controlled trials showed people taking vitamin E supplements died sooner (mainly from cancer) than those taking a placebo. However, what disturbs me is that you smoke. Cigarettes are a far greater danger to you. One proposed cause for the excess early deaths in the trials was that the extra vitamins kept cells with early cancerous changes active, to develop into tumours, when they would have died off without them. The latest reports show you are damaging yourself from the first cigarette you smoke, and the damage accumulates over days, months, years. Are your priorities correct?

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