Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Published : May 8, 2014 5:56 PM IST
Vitamin E is considered to be the most powerful antioxidant vitamin. It is fat soluble and can be easily obtained through dietary sources like peanuts, almonds, seeds, egg yolk, whole grains, leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli, vegetable oils (sunflower, safflower and soybean oil). The recommended daily allowance of vitamin E varies depending on the age group and gender but on average adolescents and adults should get 14-15 mg of vitamin E every day.
Due to its strong antioxidant activity, vitamin E helps your body in several ways to function properly. Here are some health benefits of vitamin E you should know:
1. Keeps your brain healthy: Did you know vitamin E is critical for proper functioning of the brain and the nervous system? Your brain has a store of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are vulnerable to damage caused by free radicals. Once this damage is caused, the brain cells trigger a chain reaction that can harm your entire brain. Vitamin E destroys those free radicals with its antioxidant activity and keeps your brain healthy.
2. Helps patients with Alzheimer's disease: Based on the crucial function of vitamin E in maintaining brain health, researchers explored its possible role in conditions related to the brain. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that vitamin E delayed the progression of Alzheimer's in end-stage patients by almost 8 months. Some other studies have pointed out that vitamin E can also be helpful for patients in early stage of Alzheimer's.
3. May treat infertility: Whether you want to regain your erectile function or you want to boost your fertilization rate, vitamin E could help you in a lot of ways. Vitamin E works at a cellular level and helps in conditions of the reproductive system in both men and women. In women, it has shown to relieve hot flashes, premenstrual syndrome and sore breasts. In men it directs blood flow, helping in erectile dysfunction and also prevents free radical damage to the sperm cells, thereby boosting fertilization rate.
4. Protects against cancer: By now, we all know that every antioxidant helps in cancer prevention by preventing damage to the cellular DNA. But the role of vitamin E in preventing cancer has always been controversial. While vitamin E that is obtained naturally from diet does actually help in protecting against cancers of the lung, prostate gland and breast, some studies have pointed out that supplementary vitamin E may have an opposite effect and may instead cause cancer in people.
5. Enhances immunity: The role of vitamin E in boosting immunity was unnoticed for a long time. But now, there is a lot of evidence supporting the fact that vitamin E helps in improving our resistance to infections. Studies show that vitamin E helps in production of antibodies, stimulates natural killer cells of the immune system that destroy infected cells and reduces the level of substances causing inflammation of tissues.
6. Reduces symptoms of autoimmune condition: Some conditions like arthritis and systemic lupus erythromatosus (SLE), where the immune system attacks the body cells can be improved with Vitamin E. It reduces inflammation and prevents the condition from worsening.
7. Protects your skin from damage: You must have seen the word 'tocopherol' listed in contents of some of your beauty products, especially moisturizers and anti-aeging creams. Tocopherol is nothing but a form of vitamin E that is widely used in the cosmetic industry because of its wide beauty benefits. Vitamin E helps in protecting the skin against pollution and strong UV rays of the sun. Being an antioxidant, it also slows down the aging process, keeping your skin ever-glowing.
8. Fastens wound healing process: Vitamin E is required for the synthesis of collagen that forms a strong support system of the skin. It also enhances tissue repair mechanism that helps your body to heal wounds quickly.
9. Protects against heart disease: Free radicals causes oxidation of LDL cholesterol that stimulates the release of inflammatory substances from the cells lining the arteries. Vitamin E not only prevents free radicals to cause oxidation but also lowers the level of inflammatory substances further reducing the damage.
10. Helps in better absorption of Vitamin K: Vitamin K is required for blood clotting. But without vitamin E, absorption of vitamin K is interfered. So, if you're deficient in vitamin E, you might also have vitamin K deficiency.
Although adequate level of vitamin E is essential for several processes, high level of vitamin E can pose health risk. That's why vitamin E supplements should not be taken recommended by an expert.
References:
User's Guide to Vitamin E by By Jack Challem, Melissa Diane Smith
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