A report published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that male smokers who took high dose vitamin B6 and B12 supplements – often marketed as energy boosters and present in energy drinks – had three to four times the risk of developing lung cancer, compared to men who did not take the vitamin B supplements.
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Vitamin B supplements are marketed as boosting energy. Often they come at extraordinarily high doses. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin B6 for men is only about one and a half milligrams, and for vitamin B12, it’s less than two and a half micrograms per day.
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Men who had taken a high dose of vitamin B6 greater than 20 mg per day for ten years (the recommended daily allowance is 1.7mg/day) were at an 80% higher risk of lung cancer.
When it came to Vitamin B12, those who had taken greater than 55 micrograms per day (RDA is 2.5 micrograms per day) were at a 98% greater risk of lung cancer.
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Vitamin B6 and B12 are involved in the so-called “one carbon pathway” that is crucial for synthesizing and regulating DNA. Exposure to such high levels could disrupt the regulation of cell growth and lead to cancer.
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