I have years of experience with my patients and we have decades of scientific evidence that prove nutrients and herbs have tremendous value and health benefits. But look at what happens when researchers test the wrong thing – and the wrong results get reported in the news.
You probably remember the famous 2005 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine [1] which claimed that vitamin E supplementation increases your chance of death from any cause. The media were all over it, reporting it everywhere.
There were three problems with this study (and all studies on vitamin E before 2006):
- The study only tested for synthetic vitamin E, which is less effective than the natural form. The “all-rac-alpha tocopherol acetate” that was included in the studies is the lab-created form of only one of the eight forms of vitamin E, all of which are now proven to be important for health.
- The high-dose trials were very small … almost too few participants to get a true scientifically valid result.
- All of the people in the studies who received higher doses of vitamin E already had chronic diseases.
In fact, the people with no disease didn’t even get that much vitamin E and yet they had a 16 percent lower risk of death. This is the real news!
But since then, we have discovered even more of the truth about the benefits of vitamin E for your health, with important and exciting new information you really should know.
What vitamin E does for you
Vitamin E is an important vitamin required for the proper function of many organs in your body. It is also the most basic chain-breaking antioxidant in our bodies, so it slows down processes of cell damage.
Vitamin E is naturally found in a number of vegetable oils, meat, poultry, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and certain nuts and grains. True vitamin E deficiency is rare if you are eating these foods and can digest and absorb fats … but that doesn’t mean you get enough for optimal health. In fact, the opposite might be true…
Low vitamin E associated with illnesses
Ever since the 1970s research on the benefits of vitamin E have shown us that low vitamin E (and therefore, vitamin E supplementation) increases a number of illnesses, including heart disease, cancers, cataracts, Parkinson’s disease, and even skin diseases.
This is because of its proven anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Just to give you an idea of why it is not universally recommended for prevention of all these illnesses, let me explain how it went with vitamin E studies and heart disease.
Less heart disease: Vitamin E lowers all sorts of markers for heart disease. It lowers LDL cholesterol, lowers clotting, prevents smooth muscle thickening (that can block blood flow and stiffen arteries), and helps keep your heart vessels open.
Retrospective studies showed pretty significant reduction in heart attack rates in those who supplemented with vitamin E. The famous Nurses’ Health Study showed 34% reduction and the U.S. Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study showed 39% reduction.
The Iowa Women’s Health Study in the 1990s found an apparent 47% reduction in deaths from heart attack.
Sounds impressive, right? Well, that proof didn’t quite have enough statistical clout for scientists used to randomized, controlled clinical trials … so they’ve since done many randomized, controlled clinical proving vitamin E has benefits like these:
Ultimate cancer fighter: Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, cervix, lungs, and breast are universally reduced by getting more vitamin E (400 IU daily). In one study breast cancer was lowered by 60 percent in women who got high vitamin E from food. Another real-world result that a sterile lab test can’t match.
Fewer cataracts: A 1996 Finnish study in men showed that those with low vitamin E levels had nearly four times more risk of lens opacities (cataracts) compared to men taking the highest vitamin E supplementation.
Anti-Parkinson’s power: Those in the top 1/5th of supplemental vitamin E intake had a 36 percent reduction in the severity of Parkinson’s disease symptoms according to a 2002 study reported in the Archives of Neurology. Overall, the prestigious journal Lancet reported a 19 percent reduction in risk of developing Parkinson’s disease for people who had high vitamin E intake.
Blood thinning effect: At high doses of more than 1,500 international units (IU) of vitamin E per day you can expect to your blood to become thinner from the associated risk of vitamin K deficiency (required for blood clotting). That’s why you don’t want to take too much in supplementation but get yours from foods when you can.
This effect likely explains the 22 percent increased risk of bleeding stroke seen in large studies of vitamin E supplementation in elderly patients. This effect is not known to be caused by vitamin E from foods.
In summary, low levels of vitamin E contribute to illness. I believe vitamin E is essential for a healthy, balanced body – and fair and balanced studies prove that.
The question is, what is the best kind of vitamin E to get, where do you get it from, and how much do you need?
In my next article I’ll show you. I’ll discuss the different types of vitamin E, including the man-made kind used in most of the derogatory studies – and the natural vitamin E you should get from your diet, plus specific types of vitamin E supplements.
[1] Miller E, Pastor-Barriuso R, Dalal D, Riemersma R, Appel L, Guallar E. “Meta-analysis: high-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality.” Ann Intern Med. 2005 Jan 4;142(1):37-46.
