What Is Vitamin E Used For

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This is a reader-friendly overview of Vitamin E. For more details, see our wellness professional person fact sheet on Vitamin E.

What is vitamin Eastward and what does it practice?

Vitamin Due east is a fat-soluble nutrient found in many foods. In the body, it acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the harm acquired past complimentary radicals. Gratuitous radicals are compounds formed when our bodies catechumen the food we eat into energy. People are also exposed to free radicals in the environment from cigarette smoke, air pollution, and ultraviolet light from the sun.

The body besides needs vitamin E to boost its immune organization so that it tin fight off invading bacteria and viruses. It helps to widen blood vessels and keep claret from clotting inside them. In addition, cells employ vitamin Eastward to interact with each other and to carry out many important functions.

How much vitamin Due east do I need?

The amount of vitamin East you need each day depends on your age. Boilerplate daily recommended amounts are listed below in milligrams (mg).

Life Stage	Recommended Amount
Nascence to half-dozen months	4 mg
Infants 7–12 months	5 mg
Children 1–3 years	half dozen mg
Children 4–viii years	7 mg
Children 9–13 years	11 mg
Teens 14–18 years	15 mg
Adults	xv mg
Pregnant teens and women	fifteen mg
Breastfeeding teens and women	nineteen mg

What foods provide vitamin E?

Vitamin East is found naturally in foods and is added to some fortified foods. Y'all can get recommended amounts of vitamin E by eating a variety of foods including the following:

Vegetable oils similar wheat germ, sunflower, and safflower oils are amidst the best sources of vitamin E. Corn and soybean oils also provide some vitamin E.
Nuts (such as peanuts, hazelnuts, and, especially, almonds) and seeds (similar sunflower seeds) are besides among the best sources of vitamin East.
Dark-green vegetables, such every bit spinach and broccoli, provide some vitamin E.
Nutrient companies add vitamin Eastward to some breakfast cereals, fruit juices, margarines and spreads, and other foods. To discover out which ones have vitamin E, bank check the product labels.

What kinds of vitamin E dietary supplements are available?

Vitamin Eastward supplements come up in different amounts and forms. 2 main things to consider when choosing a vitamin East supplement are:

The amount of vitamin E: Most once-daily multivitamin-mineral supplements provide about 13.5 mg of vitamin Eastward, whereas vitamin E-only supplements commonly comprise 67 mg or more than. The doses in well-nigh vitamin E-simply supplements are much higher than the recommended amounts. Some people accept big doses because they believe or hope that doing so volition keep them healthy or lower their run a risk of certain diseases.
The form of vitamin E: Although vitamin E sounds like a single substance, it is really the name of 8 related compounds in food, including blastoff-tocopherol. Each form has a different authorisation, or level of activity in the trunk.

Vitamin E from natural sources is unremarkably listed as "d-alpha-tocopherol" on food packaging and supplement labels. Synthetic (laboratory-made) vitamin Eastward is commonly listed equally "dl-alpha-tocopherol." The natural class is more strong; one mg vitamin Due east = i mg d-blastoff-tocopherol (natural vitamin E) = 2 mg dl-alpha-tocopherol (synthetic vitamin E).

Some food and dietary supplement labels all the same list vitamin E in International Units (IUs) rather than mg. one IU of the natural form of vitamin E is equivalent to 0.67 mg. 1 IU of the constructed form of vitamin E is equivalent to 0.45 mg.

Some vitamin East supplements provide other forms of the vitamin, such as gamma-tocopherol, tocotrienols, and mixed tocopherols. Scientists do not know if any of these forms are superior to alpha-tocopherol in supplements.

Am I getting enough vitamin E?

The diets of nearly Americans provide less than the recommended amounts of vitamin Due east. However, healthy people rarely bear witness any clear signs that they are not getting enough vitamin E (see next question for information on the signs of vitamin East deficiency).

What happens if I don't get enough vitamin East?

Vitamin E deficiency is very rare in healthy people. It is nearly always linked to certain diseases in which fat is not properly digested or captivated. Examples include Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, and sure rare genetic diseases such as abetalipoproteinemia and ataxia with vitamin Due east deficiency (AVED). Vitamin Due east needs some fat for the digestive system to absorb it.

Vitamin E deficiency can cause nerve and muscle impairment that results in loss of feeling in the arms and legs, loss of torso motion command, muscle weakness, and vision problems. Another sign of deficiency is a weakened immune system.

What are some effects of vitamin E on wellness?

Scientists are studying vitamin E to understand how it affects health. Here are several examples of what this research has shown.

Center disease

Some studies link higher intakes of vitamin E from supplements to lower chances of developing coronary middle disease. But the best research finds no benefit. People in these studies are randomly assigned to take vitamin E or a placebo (dummy pill with no vitamin East or active ingredients) and they don't know which they are taking. Vitamin E supplements do not seem to forbid heart disease, reduce its severity, or affect the risk of expiry from this disease. Scientists do not know whether high intakes of vitamin E might protect the heart in younger, healthier people who practice not have a high risk of heart disease.

Cancer

Almost research indicates that vitamin Eastward does non assistance foreclose cancer and may be harmful in some cases. Large doses of vitamin E have not consistently reduced the hazard of colon and chest cancer in studies, for case. A big study found that taking vitamin East supplements (180 mg/day [400 IU]) for several years increased the chance of developing prostate cancer in men. Ii studies that followed middle-aged men and women for 7 or more than years found that extra vitamin E (201−268 mg/mean solar day [300–400 IU], on average) did not protect them from whatever form of cancer. Nonetheless, one study found a link between the utilize of vitamin E supplements for 10 years or more and a lower risk of expiry from bladder cancer.

Vitamin E dietary supplements and other antioxidants might collaborate with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. People undergoing these treatments should talk with their medico or oncologist before taking vitamin Due east or other antioxidant supplements, especially in high doses.

Eye disorders

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), or the loss of key vision in older people, and cataracts are amongst the most common causes of vision loss in older people. The results of enquiry on whether vitamin East can aid prevent these conditions are inconsistent. Amongst people with AMD who were at loftier risk of developing advanced AMD, a supplement containing large doses of vitamin E combined with other antioxidants, zinc, and copper showed promise for slowing downwardly the charge per unit of vision loss.

Mental function

Several studies have investigated whether vitamin E supplements might help older adults remain mentally alarm and active every bit well equally prevent or wearisome the decline of mental function and Alzheimer'due south illness. So far, the research provides piddling testify that taking vitamin E supplements tin can assistance healthy people or people with mild mental functioning problems to maintain brain wellness.

Can vitamin Due east be harmful?

Vitamin E that is naturally present in food and beverages is not harmful and does not need to be limited.

In supplement course, however, high doses of vitamin Eastward might increase the risk of bleeding (past reducing the claret's power to grade clots subsequently a cutting or injury) and of serious haemorrhage in the brain (known every bit hemorrhagic stroke). Because of this run a risk, the upper limit for adults is 1,000 mg/mean solar day for supplements of either natural or constructed vitamin E. This is equal to 1,500 IU/day for natural vitamin E supplements and 1,100 IU/mean solar day for synthetic vitamin E supplements. The upper limits for children are lower than those for adults. Some research suggests that taking vitamin E supplements even beneath these upper limits might cause impairment. In one study, for example, men who took 400 IU (180 mg) of synthetic vitamin E each day for several years had an increased risk of prostate cancer.

Does vitamin E interact with medications or other dietary supplements?

Vitamin Eastward dietary supplements tin interact or interfere with certain medicines that you lot take. Hither are some examples:

Vitamin E tin can increase the gamble of haemorrhage in people taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medicines, such as warfarin (Coumadin®).
In one study, vitamin E plus other antioxidants (such as vitamin C, selenium, and beta-carotene) reduced the middle-protective effects of two drugs taken in combination (a statin and niacin) to affect blood-cholesterol levels.
Taking antioxidant supplements while undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer could alter the effectiveness of these treatments.

Tell your doctor, chemist, and other healthcare providers about whatever dietary supplements and medicines you take. They can tell you if those dietary supplements might interact or interfere with your prescription or over-the-counter medicines, or if the medicines might interfere with how your body absorbs, uses, or breaks downwardly nutrients.

Vitamin E and healthful eating

People should get most of their nutrients from food and beverages, co-ordinate to the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Foods contain vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and other components that do good wellness. In some cases, fortified foods and dietary supplements are useful when it is non possible to run into needs for i or more nutrients (e.g., during specific life stages such every bit pregnancy). For more information about building a healthy dietary pattern, run across the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the U.Due south. Department of Agriculture'southward MyPlate.

Where tin I detect out more than about vitamin E?

Disclaimer

This fact sheet by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Function of Dietary Supplements (ODS) provides information that should not accept the identify of medical advice. We encourage you to talk to your healthcare providers (doctor, registered dietitian, pharmacist, etc.) about your interest in, questions about, or use of dietary supplements and what may be best for your overall health. Whatsoever mention in this publication of a specific product or service, or recommendation from an arrangement or professional lodge, does not represent an endorsement past ODS of that product, service, or expert advice.