animals is often heavily enriched with antioxi-
dant vitamins, particularly vitamin E. This may
be one reason why antioxidant supplementation
to animals fed regular diets do not influence
several measures of outcome. At present there
is a growing trend among people to cut out fat-
containing diet. While this does markedly
decrease caloric intake, in many cases this may
also contribute to marked decrease in the intake
of fat-soluble essential nutrients, including vita-
mins. From available information, we know that
under regular circumstances antioxidants such
asa-tocopherol, ascorbic acid and b-carotene are
well tolerated and free from toxicity, even when
consumed at doses several-fold higher than the
recommended dietary allowances (Garewal &
Diplock 1995). In view of this and the tremen-
dous potential of antioxidant therapy, consump-
tion of a diet rich in a mixture of different
antioxidants may be expected to be a prudent
course.
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