What Is Vitamin E?
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin found in many foods but is also added to fortified foods.
Vitamin E is not one vitamin. It is the collective name of eight different compounds.
Vitamin E deficiency is rare, and symptoms of it have not been seen in healthy people, even those who obtain little vitamin E from their diets.
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Vitamin E, Eight Compounds
Naturally occurring vitamin E is a mixture of four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). (source ◳)
The most abundant isoforms of vitamin E are alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol.
All forms of vitamin E have antioxidative properties. But alpha-tocopherol is the most bioavailable in the body. (source ◳)
Is Vitamin E Good For Your Heart?
Vitamin E is one of the many nutritional supplements that is being touted as an essential for maintaining a healthy heart.
While there is no proof that vitamin E actually helps to keep your heart healthy, there is proof that a deficiency of vitamin E is linked to heart disease.
The vitamin E that is found in food is called tocopherol and tocotrionol, which is a form of vitamin E that is readily available to your body.
Tocopherol and tocotrienol is needed to help your body properly metabolize fats and cholesterol.
Vitamin E In Food
Numerous foods provide vitamin E. Nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils are among the best sources of alpha-tocopherol.
You can also find significant amounts in green leafy vegetables. (source ◳)
Vitamin E is also found in some of the richest fish oils, like salmon, herring, mackerel, etc. It is also found in beef liver.
Vitamin E Deficiency
Vitamin E deficiency is rare. Deficiency symptoms have not been found in healthy people who obtain only a little vitamin E from their diets. (source ◳)
It is usually caused by inadequate dietary intake in developing countries or by a disorder causing fat malabsorption in developed countries.
Vitamin E deficiency in developing countries are more common, which is manifested by retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of childhood blindness in these countries.
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