Functions of vit E [Archive] - Ask Me Help Desk

retiredforgood

Feb 13, 2009, 07:53 PM

Vitamin E is the body's naturally occurring lubricant or anti-clotting agent as well as a very powerful anti-oxidant that helps destroy harmful free radicals (toxins) in the body. Without adequate amounts of vitamin E the risk of heart disease, cancer, and many other degenerative diseases increases drastically.

Around the year 1900 the average American received at least 100 I.U. (international units) of natural vitamin E each day. The primary source for vitamin E was stone ground whole wheat bread. However, in the late 1800's the rolling mill was invented and this machine separated the wheat germ from the wheat bran leaving only the kernel. This provided nice white flour and it became very popular. However, this milling process removed many of the vital nutrients essential to our bodies, including the majority of the vitamin E, as the wheat germ and wheat bran contained these nutrients.

Stone ground wheat also turned rancid very quickly and by removing the wheat germ and wheat bran, the product could be packaged in five or ten pound packages and kept for indefinite periods. This made the product much easier to store and sell, but it also robbed the body of some very essential nutrients.

Besides breads, vitamin E has been taken out of virtually all foods found at grocery stores as the vitamin E will cause the food to turn rancid much more quickly which diminishes the shelf life of the products. Vitamin E is the only substance that is not added back into most foods as this creates a significant problem in the distribution and shelf life of these products.

Roy Erickson, founder of A.C. Grace Company, saw the direct link between the increase of heart disease and the stripping of vitamin E from our foods. In the year 1900 there were very few cases of heart disease. Since that time (about the same time as the invention of the rolling mill) heart disease has increased and it is now the number one killer in America. Mr. Erickson firmly believed if everyone took vitamin E, it would change the health of America!

Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England conducted a study of 2000 patients with heart disease. "Consuming vitamin E supplements reduced the disease by 75%," said Dr. Jan Breslow, American Heart Association president. "Now we can confidently say the vitamin E protects against heart attacks," said Professor Morris Brown, lead researcher on the Cambridge study. "I will be recommending that patients with angina and those who are at risk of heart disease should be given supplementary vitamin E at high doses," he concluded.

"Natural vitamin E supplements outperform synthetic forms, according to a VERIS Research Summary. Results of recent studies suggest that natural vitamin E is more bioavailable and is retained in body tissues significantly longer than synthetic vitamin E. These studies show that previously accepted differences were underestimated and that the bioavailability of natural vitamin E is about twice that of synthetic vitamin E compounds."

(Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, July 1999, p. 100)

Natural vitamin E is derived from vegetable oils, primarily soybean oil. Synthetic vitamin E is produced from petrochemicals. A key difference scientists are examining is the structure of the compounds. Natural vitamin E is a single stereoisomer while synthetic E is a mixture of eight stereoisomers, only one of which is the same as natural vitamin E. The other sever stereoisomers have different molecular configurations and lower biological activities.

Consumers will find natural vitamin E by looking on the product's list of ingredients:

natural = d alpha-tocopherol
synthetic = dl alpha-tocopheryl

The researcher of a study that shows humans strongly discriminate between natural and synthetic vitamin E, believes anyone taking vitamin E should be taking the natural form. "Our studies suggest without question that natural vitamin E delivers at least twice the impact as synthetic E," said Robert Acuff, PhD, Professor and Director, Center for Nutrition Research at East Tennessee State University. The natural form of vitamin E is clearly the one our bodies were designed to use.

Another study by Maret Traber, Associate Professor at the Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, found that the body seems to discriminate between the two forms, favoring retention of the natural form of vitamin E for use within the body and excreting the synthetic form.

(the preceding was excerpted from the website of A.C. GRACE COMPANY)