Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a member of the fat soluble vitamins family. It can be found in 8 forms and the one that is the most active is alpha-tocopherol. In most vitamin E supplements you will find the nutrient under the form of alpha-tocopheryl acetate so whenever you see this you should know that we are basically referring to vitamin E. This nutrient is an antioxidant and it is crucial for us because it protects our cells from the negative impact of free radicals. Vitamin E also aids us maintain proper immune function and plays an important role in the repair of DNA.

The best food sources of vitamin E are nuts, fortified cereals, leafy vegetables and vegetable oils. Most people will not have to think about vitamin E deficiency because it is very rare. In most cases we are faced with such a condition if a person is not able to absorb fat. Genetic abnormalities can also hinder the protein that aids in the transfer of vitamin E. Also, babies that have low weight when born are at a high risk of being faced with vitamin E deficiency. You should pay attention to zinc as well. If our body has zinc deficiency there is a big chance vitamin E deficiency will also appear. The most common symptom of such a condition is the presence of neurological problems that are linked with the degeneration of nerves in our feet and hands. A doctor can easily see whether or not you are suffering from vitamin E deficiency.

Unfortunately there are people that will need to supplement the vitamin E they take in through food. There are different intestinal disorders that can actually cause vitamin e malabsorption. If you are suffering from Crohn’s disease or cystic fibrosis there is a huge chance that you will require supplementation. Special attention must be exhibited when dealing with abetalipoproteinemia, which is a very rare disorder that is inherited. It basically cause bad dietary fat absorption linked with an incapability of absorbing vitamin E as well. The good news is that your doctor will immediately let you know of the possibility of developing vitamin E deficiency as soon as one of these diseases is diagnosed.

Statistics have shown that women are more at risk of developing vitamin E deficiency. Most women actually take in only around 90% of the vitamin E RDA. Men are usually getting 100% of vitamin E RDA. Keep in mind that RDA is basically the minimum required by a human body in order to work right. The biggest problem stands in the fact that vitamin E can easily be lost when storing, cooking or preparing foods. Since vegetables are the biggest source of vitamin E and we usually cook vegetables it is easy to understand how we can be faced with vitamin E deficiencies. A way to tackle the problem is to consume foods that are fortified with vitamin E. In most cases people end up eating cereals that are fortified. In most situations such products will include 40% of vitamin E RDA. You should always check the label in order to make sure of what you get.

When our diet is not good we only have one option to make sure that all nutrients are taken in the right quantities: supplements. We recommend that you use a multi vitamin supplement instead of a special vitamin E supplement. Such special supplementation should only be taken if prescribed by your doctor in order to deal with other problems that can appear. Sometimes higher doses of vitamin E can be prescribed in order to gain extra benefits but this should only happen under medical supervision.