Remember: You Need Vitamin E

Clinical trials involving vitamin E supplementation have been mixed some showed benefits, while others did not. Some trials even reported negative outcomes associated with taking vitamin E.

Is it time to ditch your vitamin E supplement?

Perhaps but find out why first. Vitamin E is important for your health. It has important antioxidant roles in cell membranes that can affect the function of nerves and organs and mitigate oxidative stress throughout the body.

Vitamin E is also critical in brain development and, therefore, is especially needed during pregnancy.

Since it dissolves in fat, vitamin E normally travels with blood lipids into tissues.

People with chronically high blood lipids have trouble clearing them forcing vitamin E to remains in the blood stream.

That sounds like a good thing until you think about where it is NOT going: if more E stays in the blood, less may be getting into tissues.

This is especially problematic in people with metabolic syndrome, where high lipids are associated with inflammation, and a higher demand for antioxidants like vitamin E in tissues.

Vitamin E foods

The current evidence suggests most people are not eating enough vitamin E foods.

Estimates are that over 90% of the adults in the US do not reach the recommended levels of vitamin E per day in the food they eat to maintain good health. 

A change in the recommendations or recent headlines should not be a reason to avoid vitamin E. 

Increasing your intake can be achieved through eating rich food sources, including almonds, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, olive oil, and vegetables that are naturally oily (like avocados).