Nutritional News
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is one of the essential fat soluble
vitamins that exist in eight different forms.
Four different tocopherols and four
different tocotrienols; they are alpha-,
beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol.
Alpha-tocopherol is the most active form in
humans.
When the fats in our membranes become
damaged, important cell functions
become compromised. Vitamin E is a
potent antioxidant that offers protection
against damage to the fats that line the
outside of every cell of our body. Like
other dietary antioxidants, vitamin E needs
help from multiple nutrients to do its job at
maximum efficiency. In particular, vitamin
C helps to recycle vitamin E so it can
continue to neutralize free radicals over
and over again. If vitamin K levels are low,
too much vitamin E can lead to problems
involving too easy bleeding from injuries
and too slow closing of wounds.
Green leafy vegetables are great sources
of many different nutrients including
vitamin E and their combination of
nutrient richness and low calories make
them a very compelling option. Other
vitamin E rich foods such as nuts or seeds
tend to be higher in fat along with oil richplants such as olives and avocados.
A Message from Health Canada
In general, an intake of vitamin E (for
example as part of multivitamin
supplementation) of up to 40IU is considered
Volu me
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Fun Food Facts!
A judge from Santa Barbara took
the first Mexican avocado trees to
California in 1871. California now
grows 90% of the US avocado crop
on more than 6000 groves.
to be a “normal” dose. Supplements are
available that provide from 1.5IU to 1500IU
per day. Those providing 400IU per day or
more are considered to be “high dose” or
“mega dose”. Currently, vitamin E is not
authorized for sale in Canada for the
Did You Know?
purpose of preventing any particular
disease, including heart disease and
cancer. Health Canada recommends
There has been research around the
prevention or treatment of many health
conditions however there is lack of strong
evidence to support its use for any disease
at this time, aside from vitamin E
deficiency. There is however health surveys
that show the Mediterranean diet, which
includes diets rich in vitamin E from
vegetables, fish and plant oils, have been
linked to cardiovascular disease
prevention.
Vitamin E from Food Sources
Food
Calories
Vitamin E
Toasted Almonds
¼ cup
18mg
Roasted Sunflower Seeds
¼ cup
10-12mg
Almond Butter
2 Tbsp
8mg
Wheat Germ Oil
1 Tsp
7mg
Spinach
1 cup
5mg
Sources
Paying attention to food sources of this
important antioxidant should allow you to
get your daily recommended intake from
your diet but it is important that your
choices are wise.
reviewing your personal vitamin E,
requirements with your health care provider.
Vitamin E in foods degrades slowly and at
different rates in different foods. For
example flour loses about 1/3 of its
vitamin E at close to one year of storage
whereas olive oil kept in a closed bottle
will lose about 20-30% of its vitamin E over
six months of storage (an open bottle will
lose all the vitamin E after 3-4 months.
Vitamin E is also damaged by high heat
cooking however it is important to note
that this nutrient can protect foods from
damage. For example, meat from
chickens fed diets high in vitamin E show
less evidence for free radical damage to
their fats over 10 days of storage.
Presumably, this vitamin E richness in the
food consumed by the chickens helped
protect their body fat from damage by
oxygen.
Resources
Eatrightontario.ca
Whfoods.com
Health Canada
recommends 15mg of
alpha-tocopherol,
which is equivalent to
22IU’s of natural
source vitamin E per
day or 33IU’s from
synthetic sources for
people aged 14 years
and over.
The tolerable upper
intake level for adults
is 100mg per day of
any form of vitamin E
supplements.
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