The SU.VI.MAX study

For men, the results of the study show a 31% reduction in cancer and 37% reduction in deaths.

Between 1994 and 2002 in France, 13017 volunteers (7,886 women aged 35 to 60 and 5,141 men aged 45 to 60) took part in this study headed by Dr Serge Hercberg (director of U557 at INSERM). The first group received a SUVIMAX gelatine capsule, and the other group a placebo capsule with no active ingredient (every day for 8 years). The composition of the gelatine capsule was as follows :

- Beta - carotene 6 mg
- Vitamin C 120 mg
- Vitamin E 30 mg
- Selenium 100 micrograms
- Zinc 20 mg

In the first part of the study, a fall of 31% in cancers among men having taken the antioxidant complex and a fall of 37% in deaths from all causes was observed in the same subjects (the women had a better vitamin status before the study in comparison with the men).

Extrapolating these results to the general population in France, it was estimated that around 15,000 new cancers among men aged 45 to 60 and more than 40,000 cancers would be avoided every year among men. 

The second part of the study made it possible to compile a table of vitamin and minerals for the population of France : SUVIMAX showed that 77% of French women and 72% of French men have less than two thirds of the recommended nutritional amount of magnesium, which is 6 mg per kg of bodyweight per day. Magnesium is a mineral that is involved in all metabolisms and is in great demand during stress management, an issue in our society.

S. Hercberg et al., The SU.VI.MAX Study : a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the health effects of antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Arch Intern Med, 2004. 164(21) : p. 2335-42.