Levels of Antioxidant Nutrients in Plasma and Low Density Lipoproteins: A Human Volunteer Supplementation Study

Abstract

A human supplementation study was undertaken in order to investigate the correlation between the intake of individual daily dosages of vitamin E (300 mg), vitamin C (250 mg), or β-carotene (15 mg) of eight week duration and their uptake in vivo in plasma and LDL. The effects of a combined supplement of vitamin E, vitamin C and β-carotene (Redoxon protector-75 mg, 150 mg, 15 mg respectively) were also investigated. The results show that on supplementation with the individual antioxidants the increases in plasma α-tocopherolxholesterol levels lie in the 1.5-2 fold range and theβ-carotene:cholesterol ratios give a mean 3.5 fold enhancement. The combined supplement containing the same level of β-carotene as the single dosage achieved comparative levels of uptake in plasma. The level of plasma vitamin C appears to be maximal at about 100//M regardless of the pre-supplementation level.