Low levels of the nutrient folate in the diet of healthy men has been linked to higher rates of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm. Folate, also protective against birth defects, is found in leafy green vegetables, fruit and legumes.

The study, by the University of California, Berkeley, is featured in the journal Human Reproduction. Women of childbearing age are encouraged to maintain adequate levels of folate in their diet to have healthy eggs

People who take high doses of vitamin E supplements are at an increased risk of suffering from lung cancer, research suggests. Lead researcher Dr. Christopher G. Slatore of the University of Washington in Seattle studied 77,000 people taking 400 milligrams per day and found its long-term use increased cancer risk by 28 percent.

Over the course of the study, 521 people developed lung cancer. "This risk translates into a 28 percent increased risk of lung cancer at a dose of 400 mg/day for 10 years," wrote Dr. Slatore. Smokers were at particular risk

U.S. plant geneticists and crop scientists have developed new and cheaper techniques to produce vitamin A-rich corn. The techniques also led them to discover a mutant gene responsible for making corn plants rich in vitamin A or retinol.

The innovation and discovery made by scientists from four different universities, Boyce Thompson Institute, DuPont Crop Genetics Research, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture can solve the problem of vitamin A deficiency of corn-eating populations in sub-Saharan Africa and America. Nutrition lacking in retinol is a major cause of blindness

Debunking the age old myth about the benefits of antioxidants, scientists now say that vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene are not effective for preventing heart attacks, strokes, or related deaths.

The new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, involved examining data for 8,171 women over the age of 40 who took part in the women's antioxidant cardiovascular study in the U.S., starting in 1995 or 1996 and ending in 2005

A study has found that having a high dose of multivitamins increases the risk of men having prostate cancer. The study, being published Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is the biggest ever to suggest high-dose multivitamins may harm the prostate.

Researchers tracked the diet and health of almost 300,000 men and found that about a third reported taking a daily multivitamin, and 5 percent were heavy users, swallowing the pills more than seven times a week