Vitamin E

[expialidocious]

[size=200]List: Vitamin E in Plant Foods[/size]

Vitamin E Recommendations: The current Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for vitamin E for women and men ages 14 and up is 12 mg/day. The RDA is 15 mg/day. RDAs are higher than EARs so as to identify amounts that will cover people with higher than average requirements.

Nutrition Desk Reference: The requirement for vitamin E to prevent overt clinical deficiency is proportionate to body size and polyunsaturated fat intake. Vitamin E is needed in small amounts when dietary polyunsaturated fats are minimal.

• Reasearch on additional Vitamin E supplementation seems to suggest that, at best, it does no harm, or is better than nothing, sometimes.

Vitamin E in human health and disease: Supplementation with vitamin E is considered to provide health benefits against cardiovascular disease through its antioxidant activity, the prevention of lipoprotein oxidation, and the inhibition of platelet aggregation. However, the results from large prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials with alpha-TOH have been largely negative. A recent meta-analysis suggests that alpha-TOH supplements may actually increase all-cause mortality; however, the mechanism for this increased risk is unknown.

Vitamin E and all-cause mortality: Based on the present meta-analysis, supplementation with vitamin E appears to have no effect on all-cause mortality at doses up to 5,500 IU/d.

The Role of Vitamin E in Human Health and Some Diseases: Apart from the enormous benefits reported, there has always been debate about the exact function of vitamin E and its role in various diseases. There are many conflicting reports of positive and negative results on the same biological activities in the literature. The primary hindrance in determining the roles of vitamin E in human health is the lack of validated biomarkers for vitamin E intake and status, which would help to relate intakes to possible clinical outcomes. In conclusion, although the data surrounding vitamin E is contradictory, the current literature appears to support the view that the benefits outweigh the side-effects.

Side effects: The US Food and Nutrition Board has set a Tolerable upper intake level (UL) at 1,000 mg (1,500 IU) per day. The European Food Safety Authority reviewed the same safety question and set a UL at 300 mg/day.

[AndyBa]

Great post, expialidocious!