If you smoke or drink , Vitamin E can prove really bad for your immunity

The study showed that vitamin E increased pneumonia risk by 68% among men who had the highest exposure to smoking and who did not exercise.

Depending on lifestyle choices, taking vitamin E supplements for boosting immunity can have different effects on modifying the risk of pneumonia in older men, a study has found.

The study showed that vitamin E increased pneumonia risk by 68% among men who had the highest exposure to smoking and who did not exercise.

Conversely, vitamin E actually decreased pneumonia risk by 69% among participants who had the least exposure to smoking and who exercised during their leisure time.

The findings from the study refute there being a uniform effect of vitamin E supplementation on the risk of pneumonia.

“The effect of vitamin E on health outcomes may depend on various characteristics of people and their lifestyle,” said lead author Harri Hemila from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

For the study, the team studied the effect of vitamin E on the risk of pneumonia on men aged 50 to 69 years old in Finland between 1985 and 1993. There were 898 cases of pneumonia among 29,133 participants of the study.

The author claims that these findings refute there being a uniform effect of vitamin E supplementation on the risk of pneumonia.

Given the current limited understanding about who might benefit, vitamin E should not be suggested for the general population for improving the immune system, Hemila recommended.

The study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

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