There are a lot of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are essential for a body to remain healthy and function properly. Vitamins are very vital for the ideal functioning of our body and vitamin E is known to protect us against heart disease and cancer. As we age our body uses all the vitamins if needed in order to ensure that its functioning is smooth. Another name for vitamin A is alpha-tocopherol it is known as a vitamin that is fat-soluble and acts as a powerful antioxidant protecting ourselves from any free radical damage and less an active part in our immune function as well. Vitamin E is the essential vitamin that is found in a diet. Any vitamin E deficiency means your chances of falling prey to diseases are more. However, vitamin E deficiency is considered to be very rare. Since vitamin E is fat-soluble in nature, it needs to be consumed in the form of dietary fat in order to be efficiently transported and made use of by our body. Mother nature has once again blessed us with several naturally rich vitamin E foods such as meat, eggs, nuts, poultry, and vegetable oils. Vitamin E can also be found in spinach, kiwi fruit, tomato, mango, and broccoli. This vitamin is generally observed in the small intestine and then it is pushed and taken to the liver where vitamin E is generally stored and used whenever it is required. The liver is known to secrete only alpha-tocopherol— the recognizable form by our body.
There are very few situations wherein we can find a body fighting because of vitamin E deficiency — in the case of premature babies who have lower birth weight or people who suffer from sad malabsorption disorder. In both these cases, supplementation is required.
Health Benefits Of Vitamin E Supplements
Vitamin E is extremely important for the healthy function of our eyes, immune system, brain, and heart. This nutrient is known to prevent heart disease and any other eye disorders along with improving cognitive function and protecting against certain types of cancers. Following are the health benefits that a body gets benefited with vitamin E supplements.
Known to prevent coronary heart disease
Also known as CVD, several researchers claim that vitamin A helps prevent CVD. This is because vitamin E is set to improve cardiovascular health. Administering a vitamin E supplement is considered to be cardioprotective for those people who have high levels of oxidative stress, including people who suffer from type two diabetes as well.
Good minimize the risk of developing certain types of cancers
This is known as a very controversial benefit of vitamin E. As it acts as a powerful antioxidant that protects ourselves from any free radical damage, it might play a vital role in the prevention of the development of cancer and similar health conditions. Researchers claim that whether or not this supplement definitely prevents cancer — the evidence for this is still emerging.
May prevent Eye disorders
AMD aka macular degeneration and Cataracts – these are the most commonly found age-related eye disorders that are directly associated with free radical damage and oxidative stress. Vitamin D supplements will help reduce the cellular oxidative stress around the macular region of the eye. Also, dietary inclusion of vitamin E well slows the rate of AMD. Vitamin E also helps in the self-repair of the cornea, retina, and uvea.
Prevent skin disorders
You must have come across a certain dermatologist asking you to rub the liquid of the vitamin E capsule on certain patches of your skin that might have some problem. This is because, for decades in the field of dermatology, vitamin E is known to protect the skin from radical damage.
Vitamin E can be both administered orally or even applied topically because of its anti-inflammatory properties and is used to promote collagen production. Always consult your dermatologist before trying to apply vitamin E on your skin directly.
Foods that are high in vitamin E
Vitamin E is known to be found naturally in a plethora of foods. Some of the best food sources when it comes to vitamin E include vegetable oils, green leafy vegetables, seeds and nuts, and fortified cereals. We have noted down some of the vitamin E rich foods for you 🙂
- Sunflower seeds-7.4 MG per 1 ounce of serving
- Almonds 7.4 MG per 1 ounce of serving
- Wheat germ oil-21.8 MG per 1 tablespoon
- Avocados-4.2 MG per fruit
- Spinach-3.7 MG per 1 cup of serving
- Kiwi fruit-2.6 MG per 1 cup of serving
- Olive oil-1.9 MG per 1 tablespoon
- Broccoli-2.3 MG per 1 cup of serving
Preparation and dosage
The RDA for vitamin E is 15 mg. There are several vitamin E supplements on the market that provide around 67 mg of vitamin E which is much higher than what is recommended dietary allowance. Always remember that administering a large dosage of vitamin E supplements must be approached after consulting your doctor. Vitamin E supplements can be found in two forms-natural and synthetic. The natural form is alpha-tocopherol. Whereas the synthetic form is DI-alpha-tocopherol.
Please make a note that vitamin E supplement manufacturers or not compulsorily made to make their products undergo rigorous research and testing. Because of this, there is a certain risk to knowing whether or not the label on the supplement bottle represents what is inside the bottle. Therefore, we highly recommend that you consult a doctor and consume the suggested vitamin E supplement.