Vitamin E

Vitamin E, which serves as an antioxidant it defends your cells against damage on a daily basis. Preliminary research points to the promising effects of vitamin E in curbing certain chronic diseases.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommends 15 mg daily of the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E, with an emphasis on natural sources.

Your cells are under a constant barrage from free radicals, unstable forms of oxygen that rove the body looking to make trouble. Free radicals are by-products of the normal, everyday workings of your body, but they can be lethal to cells by destroying the important fats in your body. You can't escape free radicals, but you can limit their production by avoiding (as much as possible) smog and other air pollutants, cigarette smoke and strong sunlight (ultraviolet rays).

The Why's and How's of Vitamin E and Your Body
"Oxidative stress" is the term experts use to describe the havoc wreaked by free radicals. Vitamin E is one of the body's best weapons against the oxidative stress your body faces every day.

Vitamin E sacrifices itself for the sake of your cells. By donating part of itself to a free radical, vitamin E turns an unruly, hostile compound into a harmless substance. That means that the free radical is no longer able to destroy the fatty portion of cell membranes and other fats found in your blood stream. Once vitamin E has given freely of itself in service to your cells, it is regenerated by several different substances, including vitamin C, and off it goes to defend and protect cells once again.

Vitamin E is garnering a lot of attention for its ability to fend off oxidative damage to low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol. That may seem strange to you. After all, why protect bad cholesterol? Because when LDLs are oxidized by free radicals, they become stickier and more likely to clog arteries, boosting the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Vitamin E may also prevent blood cells from sticking to each other and to the blood vessels they travel, helping to promote clear and flexible blood vessels that allow the passage of oxygen-rich blood to your heart.

There's more. Reducing oxidative stress with vitamin E may be linked to heading off the complications of diabetes, to a reduced rate of aging, lowering cancer risk, boosting immunity and slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) determined that there is not enough research to support levels of vitamin E intake above the recommended 15 milligrams. Therefore, despite vitamin E's promise, the NAS does not support taking vitamin E supplements as a heart disease preventative for the general population, nor does the organization recommend supplements for the prevention of any other diseases or the control of chronic conditions.

The Top Form of Vitamin E Among the 8
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin. This means the fat found in foods serves as the vehicle for vitamin E to get into your body to do its good work. It's no surprise, then, that most dietary vitamin E is found in higher fat foods, such as vegetable oils and spreads, nuts and seeds.

There are eight forms of vitamin E, but one reigns supreme: alpha-tocopherol.

The other seven forms of vitamin E cannot meet the body's vitamin E needs. In fact, alpha-tocopherol is so potent that the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin E is based on the body's requirement for alpha-tocopherol. Even the synthetic form of alpha-tocopherol, while beneficial, pales in comparison to naturally occurring alpha-tocopherol: Synthetic alpha-tocopherol is only half as effective in the body.

In foods, vitamin E is present in the eight different forms. Alpha-tocopherol is the best when it comes to vitamin E. It's the predominant form of vitamin E found in almonds, safflower oil and olive oil.