Whole Food Nutrition
Vitamin E
Tocopherol, or vitamin E, is a fat-soluble vitamin in eight
forms that is an important antioxidant. Vitamin E is often used
in skin creams and lotions because it is claimed by the
manufacturers to play a role in encouraging skin healing and
reducing scarring after injuries such as burns.
Natural vitamin E exists in eight different forms or isomers,
four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. All isomers have a
chromanol ring, with a hydroxyl group which can donate a
hydrogen atom to reduce free radicals and a hydrophobic side
chain which allows for penetration into biological membranes.
There is an alpha, beta, gamma and delta form of both the
tocopherols and tocotrienols, determined by the number of methyl
groups on the chromanol ring. Each form has its own biological
activity, the measure of potency or functional use in the body.
Vitamin E, or alpha-tocopherol, is a leading antioxidant and
a powerful ally in the fight against heart disease. Studies have
shown that those that take vitamin E over an extended period of
time are less likely to develop heart disease, including
cardiomyopathy and artherosclerosis, or to have a heart attack.
Vitamin E helps ease respiratory problems, and may also prevent
some of the damage that diabetes does to the body, particularly
to the eyes. It also boosts your immune system’s ability to
fight off infectious diseases by increasing levels of interferon
and interleukin, the biochemicals that are produced by the
immune system to fight infection.
Vitamin E protects the body from oxidation, a normal aging
process by which oxygen breaks down the body’s tissues. It works
to neutralize free radicals, which are naturally occurring
unstable molecules that can damage your body’s healthy molecules
by taking electrons to balance themselves. When enough vitamin E
is present in the body, unstable free radicals get their
electrons from the vitamin E molecules and leave the healthy
molecules alone, thus causing less damage to tissues.
Vitamin E is being tested as a treatment for many chronic
diseases for the elderly, including Alzheimer’s, macular
degeneration, osteoarthritis, and prostate enlargement. And it
is thought that this powerful antioxidant may help keep some
types of cancer from developing.
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