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There was a big study done in the US by the National Cancer Institute in the 1980's & 1990's that showed that ex-smokers who consume excess Beta-Carotene dramatically increase their risk for developing lung cancer. The numbers where so bad that the NCI terminated the study early. Here is a link to it:

(Beta Carotene Supplements Harmful to Ex-Smokers)

This is a really serious issue, especially since there are so many people & companies that tout the "benefits" of anti-oxidant supplements. Every now & then I come across someone touting their vitamins & antioxidants from some company, usually an MLM, and they are completely ignorant of the danger to ex-smokers of anti-oxidant supplements. One of the worse is a Nu-Skin spin-off company that uses a Raman-Laser type device to detect the beta-carotene levels in the victim's (i.e, the potential customer) skin. Not surprisingly, most people come up short in this area (unless your skin is orange from eating to much carrot juice!) and "need" the companies products. I wonder how many customers have been sent to an early death by this company.

I tell every ex-smoker I come across to avoid taking these supplements, especially the beta-carotene ones. Interestingly, it seems to be OK to get anti-oxidants from traditional sources, but then that means eating greens & colored vegetables!

I really wonder is science is backward on this one. They assume that oxidative stress causes pathology, but I wonder if it could be a form of repair or protection. (for example; a fever doesn’t cause a cold. it’s a symptom and an attempt by the body to fight the disease. chicken or the egg.) For years I’ve wondered if antioxidants are doing more harm than good by eliminating a protective/healing mechanism.

Actually, this result isn’t surprising. It has been known amongst serious vitamin organizatinos for a long time that alpha tocopherol by itself is not good for you. It competes for concentration with gamma tocopherol. If you supplement with just alpha (which 90% of vitamin supplements do), you deplete your gamma. They have distinct physiological roles and low gamma is quite bad for you in several different ways. Together, they are quite good for you, even as supplements.