Introduction Antioxidants and a large number of natural supplements were introduced in recent decades (Lu et al., 2013). It has been hypothesized that antioxidant consumption might reverse oxidative stress which decreases the adverse effects elicited as outcomes of oxidative stress including inflammation, carcinogenesis, and atherosclerosis (Ghorbanihaghjo et al., 2012; Bjelakovic et al., 2014). A large number of studies have been conducted in order to convey evidence for beneficial effects of antioxidants in health and disease (Bjelakovic et al., 2012). However, most of these studies were conducted for a short time interval evaluating limited numbers of targeted biochemical markers both in animal and human studies. Only a small number of prolonged cohort studies have been performed to critically assess the effects of chronic consumption of antioxidants. Unexpectedly, in a recently published systematic review by Bjelakovic et al. on 78 randomized clinical trials on antioxidants supplementation including selenium, -carotene, vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin E, not only have no favorable effects been observed, but additionally, mortality rates have risen (Bjelakovic and Gluud, 2007; Bjelakovic et al., 2012). Surprisingly, it has been shown that antioxidant supplementation may increase the risk of skin malignancy in women (Hercberg et al., 2007). There are also … Continue reading →