All About Vitamin E

Vitamin E belongs to the family of eight fat-soluble antioxidants. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that fights against the free radicals formed in the body due to smoking, environmental toxic exposure, and the body’s natural chemical reaction and thus enhances our immune system.

Vitamin E is available in both natural and synthetic forms. While the natural forms are labeled with “d”, synthetic forms are labeled with “dl”.

Sources of Vitamin E

Foods rich in fats are a good source of vitamin E. The sources of Vitamin E are classified into three types:

1. Nuts and seeds like peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, avocados, etc.
2. Vegetable oils like sunflower oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, wheat germ oil, olive oil, etc.
3. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli.

Avoid storage, freezing, and excessive cooking of the above food items as it can destroy vitamin E in them.

The recommended amount of Vitamin E is 10 mg per day for males and 8 mg per day for females but may increase if you are suffering from Vitamin E deficiency.

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Benefits of Vitamin E

Unlike Vitamin A and D, which are stored in the liver, Vitamin E or beauty vitamin is stored in body fats which means that every cell is getting protection from this vitamin.

Vitamin E fights against the free radicals and neutralizes them before they enter into the cells. This is quite beneficial in the case of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) that are prone to free radical damage. Healthy RBCs mean healthy livers, lungs, arteries, and thus effective cardiovascular health. Due to this, it maintains the natural skin tone and texture and makes it look younger.

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Other benefits of vitamin E are:

1. Vitamin E helps to lower the body’s cholesterol levels.
2. It prevents blood clot formation.
3. It helps in promoting fertility.
4. It prevents hot flushes during menopause.
5. Due to its antioxidant property, it increases stamina.

Harmful effects of Vitamin E

Though Vitamin E comes with numerous benefits it should be used carefully in patients who are taking blood-thinning agents like warfarin, heparin, or aspirin or patients with Vitamin K deficiency. Prolonged use of Vitamin E in such patients increases the chances of bleeding.

Vitamin E usage has also been linked to contact dermatitis.

Vitamin E deficiency

Deficiency of vitamin E leads to:

1. Easy fatigue
2. Varicose veins
3. Slow healing of wounds
4. Hampers the fertility
5. Causes premature aging.

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Taking less than recommended doses can cause:

1. Anemia
2. Acne
3. Cancer
4. Dementia
5. Gall Bladder stones
6. The decreased life span of RBCs
7. Miscarriage

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Vitamin E protects against liver cancer

A study conducted on 132,837 people in China showed that how the consumption of Vitamin E (either from a natural form or supplemental form) helps in protecting people from liver cancer. Vitamin E consumption is inversely proportional to the risk of having liver cancer.