Vitamin E

You may have heard of Vitamin E buzzing around the beauty industry, or heard of foods rich in this vitamin to help protect your skin and even fight the looks of aging. And you’d be right in that your skin is one of the biggest benefits that this vitamin can provide for your health, but it’s also important for other functions in the body as well. Vitamin E is a powerful, fat-soluble antioxidant that helps protect cell membranes against damage caused by free radicals and prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. The term vitamin E encompasses a group of eight compounds, called tocopherols and tocotrienols, that comprise the vitamin complex as it is found in nature.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant in the body. It helps protect cell membranes against free radicals that cause damage to your skin and also prevents the oxidation of unhealthy cholesterol (LDL) that can lead to heart disease. Vitamin E is found abundantly in plant-based sources, as you’ll learn more about below.

Work this important vitamin into your diet with out tips, recipes, and learn more about how Vitamin E can benefit you.

OVERVIEW

Vitamin E is crucial for the maintenance of skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle. It also assists in the formation of red blood cells and helps to maintain stores of other vitamins, such as Vitamin A, K, and the important minerals iron and selenium. Since it is a fat-soluble vitamin, it’s important that you eat enough healthy fats in your diet (preferably with meals) so your body can absorb the Vitamin E you’re also eating. Since Vitamin E is found in some plant-based sources of healthy fats, it’s quite easy to make sure you get enough. Though a deficiency in this vitamin is rare, it’s helpful to make it a point to eat foods with Vitamin E on a regular basis.

BENEFITS

Vitamin E plays a role in immune system health, protects the heart against oxidative stress that leads to disease, prevents against cancer, Alzheimer’s, and even some diabetes-related health issues.

DAILY RECOMMENDED INTAKE

The DRI (daily recommended intake) of Vitamin E for adults ages 14 and older is 15 milligrams. or 22-23 international units (IU). Mothers who are breastfeeding should increase their dosage to 19 mg (or 28.5 IU). Keep in mind that if you take a supplement with additional Vitamin E, there’s a small risk of toxicity since most multivitamins don’t have enough to cause an overdose when taken in combination of dietary sources, however, you should be sure to keep all sources (through your diet and supplements) away from high heat temperatures and exposure to air since it can cause the vitamin to go rancid and lose potency.

DIETARY SOURCES
Good sources of Vitamin E in a plant-based diet are:
- all nuts
- all seeds
- avocados
- spinach
- rice bran tocotrienols
- wheat germ (contains 100 percent in just a tablespoon!)
- whole grains
- broccoli
- mango
- tomatoes
- kiwi fruit
- Swiss chard
- olives
- mustard greens
- asparagus
- beet greens
- turnip greens