Health Benefits of Vitamin E
June 23, 2009
Vitamin E is a group of vitamins which are fat soluble and are found to be very active all over the body. The members of vitamin E family include tocopherols and tocotrienols.
Tocopherol consists of beta tocopherol, delta tocopherol, alpha tocopherol and gamma tocopherol while the tocotrienols consists of alpha tocotrienol, beta tocotrienol, gamma tocotrieno and delta tocotrienol.
The foods that are rich in vitamin E are sunflower seeds, almonds, safflower oil, hazelnuts, peanut butter, spinach, broccoli, kiwi, avocado, green leafy vegetables, whole grains etc. Vitamin E is having a lot of health benefits and some of them are.
Health Benefits of Vitamin E
1. The alpha tocopherol present in vitamin E is a strong anti-oxidant and it will protect you from the free radicals. These free radicals are the by products of your metabolism and they also develop from the break down of oxygen caused by the UV lights. Free radicals will attach to the normal cells in the body and will damage them and cause cancer and heart diseases. Vitamin E is also found to be inhibiting the formation of blood clots. Thus vitamin E will protect you from heart diseases and cancer especially from bladder cancer and prostate cancer.
2. The free radicals developed from the oxygen molecules due to the UV radiation will attack the proteins, lipids and DNA. The collagen protein which imparts the smoothness to the skin is also getting attacked and thus causes wrinkles on the skin. The vitamin E which is non enzymatic and lipid soluble will act as an anti–oxidant will prevent the free radical formation and thus protects the skin. Vitamin E has anti inflammatory property also and hence it can protect your skin from wrinkles and lines.
3. Vitamin E is also useful for removing the acne scars, surgical scars and also for the stretch marks. Vitamin E will soften the tissues first and then lightens the scars in time.
4. Vitamin E oil is applied to the skin surface will be absorbed by the epidermis of the skin and will erase the small damages caused by the sun. It can also protect you from sunburn. For this you have to apply the vitamin E oil at least 20 minutes before getting out to sun.
5. Vitamin E also has water retention property and it will protect the skin and hair from losing water. Thus it is ideal for dry skin cares.
6. Vitamin E also benefits the chemical transformation between the cells and thus helps in cell signaling.
7. The anti oxidative property of vitamin E will also help you to prevent cataract.
Hi there, I came across your post on health benefits of vitamin E and thought that I might add the following points about tocotrienols in preventing heart disease that are not associated with the regular vitamin E tocopherol.
Tocotrienols inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, the same enzyme inhibited by statins. Both animal and human studies have demonstrated the cholesterol lowering action of tocotrienols. Patients having received 100-200mg of tocotrienols per day for 4-10weeks had a 8-25% LDL-Cholesterol reduction. In contrast, tocopherols do not possess cholesterol lowering activity. Furthermore, high concentration of alpha-tocopherol (above 30% ratio) tend to suppress the cholesterol lowering action of tocotrienols.
A double blind placebo controlled human study conducted by researchers at the Kenneth Jordan Heart Foundation showed tocotrienols reverse atherosclerosis in patients with carotid stenosis (narrowing of artery supplying the brain). In this study, daily supplementation of 240mg of palm tocotrienol complex for 6 months led to regression of atherosclerotic plaque and stabilized conditions in 92% of the patients. In contrast, none of the patients receiving placebo showed atherosclerotic regression, instead 40% showed progressive disease. Tocopherols did not show this effect.
A recent randomized controlled clinical trial demonstrated that palm tocotrienol complex reduced arterial stiffness in healthy adults after 2 months of oral supplementation. Arterial stiffness is a predictor of cardiovascular events even in healthy individuals. Supplementation from as low as 50mg/day of palm tocotrienol complex (Tocomin SupraBio) for 2 months improves arterial compliance hence reduces the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
All the tocotrienol isomers are cardioprotective but the gamma-tocotrienol is the most cardioprotective of all the isomers. In a recent study, researchers at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine found that gamma-tocotrienol has the most potent effect in improving post-ischemic ventricular function and also reducing myocardial infarct size in rats. These researchers concluded that tocotrienols have much higher cardioprotective properties compared to regular alpha-tocopherol vitamin E.
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