Vitamin E: Why There’s No Need To Fear Nature’s Great Protector
By Steve P Smith
It would be a great pity if recent media scare stories
highlighting the supposed risks of vitamin E supplementation
prevented people, particularly the elderly, from ensuring that
their diets include adequate supplies of this vital nutrient.
These stories all centred on a single study, which was not new
research but a meta-analysis of 19 previous reports focussed on
subjects already identified as suffering from chronic diseases.
The applicability of its findings to the usefulness or otherwise
of vitamin E in helping to prevent disease and maintain optimum
health in the well population must therefore be open to serious
doubt. And this one study must also be considered alongside the
many which have reported the different health benefits of
vitamin E since its discovery in 1922.
Numerous of these studies have demonstrated the benefits of
vitamin E to cardiovascular health in terms of protecting
against the onset of heart disease, in restricting the advance
of the disease, and in reducing the risk of second and further
heart attacks in those already affected. In common with other
anti-oxidants, vitamin E also appears to protects against
atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries which is the
common precursor of serious heart problems. In fact vitamin E
appears to have a general blood thinning and anti-coagulant
effect similar to but much gentler and more natural than drugs
such as warfarin. Vitamin E thereby helps to protect against
highly dangerous clots forming in the arteries serving the brain
and heart; clots which can lead to stroke – still one of the
main causes of premature death and disability in the western
world.
But the benefits of vitamin E reach far beyond the heart and
circulatory system. Being fat-soluble, vitamin E is also needed
in large quantities by the brain, the trillions of cells of
which are particularly rich in fat. Brain function is highly
dependent on the efficient functioning of cell membranes,
largely formed of fatty tissue, to allow transmission of
messages between cells. Free radical damage to cell membranes,
worsening rapidly with age, is therefore regarded as one of the
principal causes of impaired cognitive function and may even be
implicated as a contributory factor in Alzheimer’s disease. As
an anti-oxidant, vitamin E is an important protector against
free radical damage and it’s not surprising, therefore, that
numerous studies have reported superior cognitive function and
memory as consequences of vitamin E supplementation.
As cancer is well known as predominantly a disease of
degeneration, it is not surprising that powerful anti-oxidants
such as vitamin E should offer a degree of protection against
it. And indeed, numerous studies have clearly linked enhanced
levels of vitamin E in the body with a reduced incidence of
common cancers, particularly that of the prostate. As a powerful
anti-oxidant vitamin E may also protect against the damage to
healthy cells that is an inevitable accompaniment of necessarily
aggressive chemo and radio cancer therapies.
And as if all of this wasn’t enough, vitamin E has also
demonstrated possible benefits in the treatment of diabetes, in
combating the pain of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and in
maintaining good vision, particularly in old age. Vitamin E is
also regarded as a general immune system booster.
But for all these identified benefits, concerns persist in some
quarters about the potential dangers of vitamin E, and are
generally focussed on the possible toxicity of very high
intakes. And it’s true that being fat-soluble, vitamin E can be
stored in the body, giving rise to a potential for toxicity if
ingested in excessive quantities over time. But there are good
grounds for thinking that these concerns are probably misplaced.
Rich dietary sources of vitamin E are foods such as leafy green
vegetables, certain types of nuts, vegetable oils and whole
grains. The typical modern, highly processed, Western diet, high
in fat and refined carbohydrate, and produced from intensively
farmed, poor quality soils, is unlikely to provide even an
adequate, let alone an excessive supply of the vitamin.
Moreover, both the Institute of Medicine and US Dietary
Guidelines have identified a regular daily intake of 1,500 IU as
the maximum at which no risk should arise to the health of
healthy individuals. To put this in context: most commercially
available supplements will provide only between 200 and 400 IU.
So with the ever increasing danger of free radical damage as
the body ages, and the difficulty of obtaining adequate supplies
from diet alone, it appears that any problems arising from
vitamin E are far more likely to be those of deficiency rather
than excess.
About the Author: Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter
specialising in direct marketing and with a particular interest
in health products. Find out more at
http://www.sisyphuspublicationsonline.com/LiquidNutrition/VitaminE.htm
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link:
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=193665&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet
By Steve P Smith
It would be a great pity if recent media scare stories
highlighting the supposed risks of vitamin E supplementation
prevented people, particularly the elderly, from ensuring that
their diets include adequate supplies of this vital nutrient.
These stories all centred on a single study, which was not new
research but a meta-analysis of 19 previous reports focussed on
subjects already identified as suffering from chronic diseases.
The applicability of its findings to the usefulness or otherwise
of vitamin E in helping to prevent disease and maintain optimum
health in the well population must therefore be open to serious
doubt. And this one study must also be considered alongside the
many which have reported the different health benefits of
vitamin E since its discovery in 1922.
Numerous of these studies have demonstrated the benefits of
vitamin E to cardiovascular health in terms of protecting
against the onset of heart disease, in restricting the advance
of the disease, and in reducing the risk of second and further
heart attacks in those already affected. In common with other
anti-oxidants, vitamin E also appears to protects against
atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries which is the
common precursor of serious heart problems. In fact vitamin E
appears to have a general blood thinning and anti-coagulant
effect similar to but much gentler and more natural than drugs
such as warfarin. Vitamin E thereby helps to protect against
highly dangerous clots forming in the arteries serving the brain
and heart; clots which can lead to stroke – still one of the
main causes of premature death and disability in the western
world.
But the benefits of vitamin E reach far beyond the heart and
circulatory system. Being fat-soluble, vitamin E is also needed
in large quantities by the brain, the trillions of cells of
which are particularly rich in fat. Brain function is highly
dependent on the efficient functioning of cell membranes,
largely formed of fatty tissue, to allow transmission of
messages between cells. Free radical damage to cell membranes,
worsening rapidly with age, is therefore regarded as one of the
principal causes of impaired cognitive function and may even be
implicated as a contributory factor in Alzheimer’s disease. As
an anti-oxidant, vitamin E is an important protector against
free radical damage and it’s not surprising, therefore, that
numerous studies have reported superior cognitive function and
memory as consequences of vitamin E supplementation.
As cancer is well known as predominantly a disease of
degeneration, it is not surprising that powerful anti-oxidants
such as vitamin E should offer a degree of protection against
it. And indeed, numerous studies have clearly linked enhanced
levels of vitamin E in the body with a reduced incidence of
common cancers, particularly that of the prostate. As a powerful
anti-oxidant vitamin E may also protect against the damage to
healthy cells that is an inevitable accompaniment of necessarily
aggressive chemo and radio cancer therapies.
And as if all of this wasn’t enough, vitamin E has also
demonstrated possible benefits in the treatment of diabetes, in
combating the pain of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and in
maintaining good vision, particularly in old age. Vitamin E is
also regarded as a general immune system booster.
But for all these identified benefits, concerns persist in some
quarters about the potential dangers of vitamin E, and are
generally focussed on the possible toxicity of very high
intakes. And it’s true that being fat-soluble, vitamin E can be
stored in the body, giving rise to a potential for toxicity if
ingested in excessive quantities over time. But there are good
grounds for thinking that these concerns are probably misplaced.
Rich dietary sources of vitamin E are foods such as leafy green
vegetables, certain types of nuts, vegetable oils and whole
grains. The typical modern, highly processed, Western diet, high
in fat and refined carbohydrate, and produced from intensively
farmed, poor quality soils, is unlikely to provide even an
adequate, let alone an excessive supply of the vitamin.
Moreover, both the Institute of Medicine and US Dietary
Guidelines have identified a regular daily intake of 1,500 IU as
the maximum at which no risk should arise to the health of
healthy individuals. To put this in context: most commercially
available supplements will provide only between 200 and 400 IU.
So with the ever increasing danger of free radical damage as
the body ages, and the difficulty of obtaining adequate supplies
from diet alone, it appears that any problems arising from
vitamin E are far more likely to be those of deficiency rather
than excess.
About the Author: Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter
specialising in direct marketing and with a particular interest
in health products. Find out more at
http://www.sisyphuspublicationsonline.com/LiquidNutrition/VitaminE.htm
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link:
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=193665&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet
