A recent trial cast antioxidants in a poor light, suggesting that women who supplement their diets with the nutrients could increase their risk of developing melanoma by up to four times as much. A new study is contradicting those results.

Scientists from Kaiser Permanente examined data collected from nearly 70,000 men and women for a study to test the association between the use of supplements and cancer risk. Participants were asked to answer questions regarding their diets, supplement use, cancer risk factors and health history.

The Nurses’ Health Study II had previously associated the use of vitamins C and E, selenium, beta carotene and zinc with the increased risk of skin cancer, but the new study refutes these findings as they relate to both short and long term use.

"Case-control studies examining serologic [blood] levels of beta carotene, vitamin E and selenium did not find any association with subsequent risk of melanoma," the authors write. "Moreover, the Nurses’ Health Study reported no association between intake of vitamins A, C and E and melanoma risk in 162,000 women during more than 1.6 million person-years of follow-up."

Antioxidants are known to have positive effects on cardiovascular health by neutralizing free radicals – small foreign particles that create problems at the genetic level – in the bloodstream.