Functions and Mechanisms

• Antioxidant. Some research indicates only alpha lipoic acid surpasses Vitamin E’s antioxidant capability in the body.
  • protects red blood cells from destruction (hemolysis).
  • protects LDL from damaging the lining of arteries and the heart.
  • protects Vitamin A
  • synergistic with many other antioxidants, especially selenium; protects selenium and glutathione from oxidation.
• Involved with prostaglandin synthesis.
• Needed for glutathione synthesis.
• Stabilizes membranes, inhibits cartilage catabolism, and stimulates cartilage anabolism.
• Aslso interacts with specific amino acids (those which contain sulfur-cysteine and methionine), vitamin K, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Treats

• Inflammation

Testing:

• Great Smokies Diagnostic Labs offer a blood test of 17 vitamins, including Vitamin E.

Supplementation:

Challem says "The food supply—even a diet built around whole foods—does not provide sufficient amounts of vitamin E, and most dietary vitamin E consists of the gamma tocopherol form, which has a limited role in human health." (p. 126)

• Most supplements are synthetic: dl-alpha tocopherol (or tocopheryl). Watch out for that one-letter difference from the natural form, d-alpha tocopherol / tocopheryl.
  • The molecule of the natural form is absorbed twice as well.
  • Various binding and transport molecules select primarily the natural d-alpha tocopherol /tocopheryl form over all other natural and synthetic forms.
• Some supplements offer
  • mixed natural tocopherols
    • closest to how the vitamin occurs in nautre
    • at least gamma tocopherol may provide additional anti-inflammatory properties.
  • mixed natural vitamin E tocopherols and tocotrienols [get more info on benefits of E tocotrienols]
• Raffelock recommends 200 to 600 IU per day
• Challem recommends
  • 200 miniumum, 800 if you have a very high total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol
  • Carlson Labs' products
• High intakes of vitamin E can negatively interfere with the other fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, and K).

Drug Interactions

• Excessive intakes can act as a weak blood thinner, thus doses >1000 IU should not be mixed with aspirin or other blood thinning agents.

For More information

• ILAR (International League of Associations for Rheumatology)
• The Inflammation Syndrome, by Jack Challem. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ, 2003.
• My pages
  • Arthritis
  • Anti-Inflammatories
  • Histamine
  • Inflammation
  • Histidine