The following is worthy of consideration in this context:
Vitamin E Supplements May Cause Harm
Contrary to popular belief, vitamin E supplements appear to provide
little benefit to health and may even cause harm, according to
researchers at the 39th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease
Epidemiology and Prevention held last week in Orlando, Florida.
They believe vitamin E and most other nutrients should be consumed via
a healthy, balanced diet.
Cardiovascular disease is associated with a gradual deposition of
fatty plaques on artery walls. This plaque forms through the oxidation
in the blood of LDL ("bad"😉 cholesterol.
Specific nutrients, called antioxidants, are thought to inhibit this
oxidative process and protect against heart disease.
Researchers examined levels of intake of four antioxidants -- vitamins
E and C, beta carotene, and folic acid -- in a group of 54
postmenopausal women. They then compared rates of LDL oxidation in
blood samples taken from each of the subjects.
The investigators found that women whose vitamin E source was dietary
displayed significant reductions in LDL oxidation.
However, women who took in vitamin E via supplements actually
increased their oxidation levels. The more they took in, the worse
their LDL oxidation.
She explained that the vitamin E found in supplements comes in the
form of alpha-tocopherol, while the vitamin E in food is manifested as
a different compound, gamma-tocopherol.
Among supplement users, alpha-tocopherol displaces the
gamma-tocopherol in our tissues, so that now all you've got is
alpha-tocopherol instead of gamma-tocopherol, and it may be the
gamma-tocopherol that's protective.
Nuts, monounsaturated vegetable oils, whole grains, and wheat germ are
the best dietary sources of vitamin E, according to experts. According
to the Michigan study, women who obtained the highest amounts of
vitamin E from their diets also displayed the lowest amounts of LDL
oxidation.
You probably can't get too much vitamin E in food.
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
As mentioned above, natural sources of vitamins are usually superior.
This study is not yet published so it is hard to determine any flaws
in it. However, I believe the premise if valid.
I suspect the reason that the supplemental vitamin E did not help is
that is was synthetic and only the alpha tocopherol. I fully believe
that one of the best sources of vitamin E is Unique Vitamin E which
has all the various tocopherols in it, including the gamma portion.
It is also the highest quality grade available. Grace is the company
that produces it and that is their ONLY product.
I suspect that higher doses of vitamin E are probably unnecessary and
would be reluctant to recommend doses beyond 400 IU, despite what
Grace states in their materials.
Another down side of vitamin E supplementation is individuals who have
a large amount of long chain fatty acids (carbons greater than 20)
usually have some type of acquired metabolic defect and taking vitamin
E.
They will actually make them worse as the vitamin E is a potent
inhibitor of beta oxidation of long chain fats.
Source: http://www.mercola.com/1999/archive/vitamin_e.htm
"Larry Hoover" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:"GMCarter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Well, I think that makes sense. Anyone who knows even the most general
science of oxidative stress will realize that these individual agents
work as antioxidants for a specific oxdiant. They then must be reduced
by another antioxidant. So they work in tight knit cycles.
Thinking in the framework of "one drug for one condition" (let alone a
bug/infectious disease) in this context is really moronically stupid.
As an aside, if you look at the literature used to support the existing Upper Limit
for vitamin E intake, there is a safety factor of 36 applied to the Lowest
Observable Adverse Effects Level of intake. The adverse effect in question is
disturbance of clotting. But, if you look more closely, you'll see that this
particular adverse effect was likely due to vitamin K deficiency in those
susceptible individuals. That issue takes you down another path entirely unrelated
to vitamin E toxicity, in my opinion.
Quoted message said:And it is little wonder that people who take high dose Vitamin E or
beta carotene fare poorly. Indeed, it's rather suprising to me that
the increased mortality risk is so low!
George, I think you are right on the money. There is quite an array of tocopheryl
radical quenchers, including vitamin C, alphalipoic acid, glutathione, carotenoids,
Co Q10, xanthines, lutein, on and on. What is the key criterion is the localized
half-life of the tocopheryl radical. It is pro-oxidant, but only if the formation of
this radical exceeds the net quenching capacity of the other inter-related
anti-oxidants.
It's a trade-off, the destruction of more reactive (and thus more destructive)
radicals for less reactive ones of longer half-life. The chain must be unbroken, up
to the point where two less reactive, longer half-life radicals, react to form a
stable molecule. Stalling the chain at e.g. tocopheryl radical (or ascorbyl radical,
or whatever) will sustain oxidative capacity. The damage done by those "antioxidants
turned oxidants" will differ based on the chemistry of the particular radical
itself. The tocopheryl radical will damage lipids preferentially, for example, due
to its hydrophobic physical characteristics.
Reductionist science will never discover this relationship. It is not part of the
mindset. Methodologies with one independent variable do not provide you with
generalizable information, the way some scientists think they do. The statistics
hold there value in other populations if and only if all other variables are
similarly constrained. The reasonable conclusion from this study might be that
taking vitamin E as sole antioxidant supplement may be injurious if you exceed the
antioxidant capacity for tocopheryl quenching.
Lar
