Several people have asked about the latest research on vitamin E, vitamin C and selenium and their relationship to heart disease and cancer, so I'm going to fill you in.

First, studies show heart disease in middle-aged and older males is not prevented by taking vitamin E and vitamin C. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Heart disease is prevented by the following:

• Maintaining your normal weight through a diet that's low in saturated and trans fatty acids;
• Exercising
• Getting plenty of omega-3 fatty acids
• Keeping normal levels of C-reactive protein, an inflammation indicator
• Keeping your LDL (bad cholesterol) under 100 and your HDL (good cholesterol) over 40 for men and 50 for women.
• Also, being a happy, positive person and keeping your stress in check help a lot.

Did you think that vitamins E and C could do all of that?

Vitamin E, vitamin C and selenium aren't shown to prevent cancer, either, especially prostate cancer. Again, you may help prevent cancer with a good diet, maintaining a normal weight, exercising, getting 8 hours of sleep a night, plus everything I mentioned above for heart disease.

Vitamins are not magic pills. What's more essential to your health is how you treat your body throughout your lifetime. If you’ve been mistreating your body, it’s time to change that. If you're wondering whether you should be taking vitamin E, vitamin C and selenium, the answer is yes, you should be supplementing in small amounts, just in case your diet is not balanced.

While these nutrients are not magic, vitamin C and calcium are helpful in protecting against osteoporosis. I recommend a daily intake of vitamin E, vitamin C and selenium in your daily intake of multivitamins.  The regular intake for protection is about 200 to 250 mg of C; I also supplement 300 to 400 mg of calcium per day in addition to what I get from food, keeping my daily intake at about 1,200 mg.