The Potent Health Benefits of Vitamin E

This suite of antioxidants supports the immune system, combats cancer, and may protect the brain

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Vitamin E’s health benefits extend far beyond glowing skin and thick, luxurious hair.

Research has shown that vitamin E is vital for preventing and reversing various disease complications because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities as well as its ability to prevent clotting and enhance the immune system.

What we call “vitamin E” is actually a group of eight, fat-soluble molecules that are broken into two groups—tocopherol and tocotrienol. Each can be further divided into alpha, beta, delta, and gamma, making a total of eight vitamin E molecules.

Our bodies need vitamin E to help fight infections, keep our muscles strong, maintain clear vision and beautiful skin, and help combat the effects of aging. Vitamin E has also been shown to protect against cancer and may help to safeguard against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s as we age.

Here are some of the ways vitamin E benefits our health.

Fights Free Radicals

All eight molecules of vitamin E are powerful antioxidants, which are needed in the body to balance levels of free radicals.

Free radicals are produced as a natural byproduct of the body’s conversion of food into energy, but they are also formed after exposure to X-rays, cigarette smoke, air pollution, and industrial chemicals. If we don’t get enough antioxidants and our levels of free radicals get too high, it leads to oxidative stress, which can damage cells and our DNA, and can accelerate aging.

There’s accumulating evidence that most of the degenerative diseases that afflict humanity—such as atherosclerosis, cancer, inflammatory joint disease, asthma, diabetes, senile dementia, and degenerative eye disease—are a result of free radical damage.

Vitamin E helps to combat free radicals as well as to decrease inflammation that, when prolonged, leads to a variety of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, the No. 1 cause of death worldwide. According to a report published in the Annual Review of Nutrition, evidence suggests that oxidative stress and inflammation are some of the main factors in the formation of fatty plaques in the arteries that lead to coronary artery disease. It states: “Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. Several lines of evidence suggest that among different forms of vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol (AT) has potential beneficial effects with regard to cardiovascular disease.”

Benefits Immune System

Vitamin E also supports strong immunity, helping the body to fight infections, and is one of the most effective nutrients known to modulate the immune system. A deficiency of vitamin E has been shown to impair immune function, but it can be corrected with supplementation. Although deficiency is rare, getting more than the current dietary recommendations has been shown to enhance the function of the immune system and reduce the risk of infection, especially in older people.

Studies of vitamin E’s effects on the immune system have typically focused on alpha-tocopherol; however, increasing evidence suggests that other forms of vitamin E, including other tocopherols and tocotrienols may also have potent immunomodulatory effects.

Fights Cancer

A study published in Carcinogenesis found that a gamma-tocopherol-rich mixture of tocopherols inhibited the formation of tumors in the colon, prostate, mammary (breast), and lungs in animal models. The mixture may have a high potential for applications in the prevention of cancer in humans, according to the authors, who said the vitamin E compounds yielded very promising results for their future use in cancer prevention and warrant extensive future research.

In a study published in BMC Cancer in 2015, researchers used vitamin E to target the mitochondria in breast cancer cells. The researchers concluded that the mitochondria-targeted vitamin E efficiently killed breast-tumor-initiating cells, which play a role in initiation, metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and relapse of breast cancer.

Researchers in another study published in BMC Cancer found that certain forms of vitamin E—such as gamma-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, gamma-tocotrienol, and delta-tocotrienol—have far superior cancer-preventive activities than does alpha-tocopherol, which has been studied extensively in relation to cancer. The study report states that these vitamin E forms are much more powerful than alpha-tocopherol in inhibiting multiple cancer-promoting pathways, and concludes that the existing evidence strongly indicates that these lesser-known vitamin E forms are effective agents for cancer prevention or as adjuvants for improving prevention, therapy, and control of cancer.

Vitamin E has also been shown to have a protective effect against certain types of cancer.

In a study published in Molecular carcinogenesis in 2020, researchers found that a lower intake of vitamin E is associated with increased cancer risk and that supplementation with alpha-tocopherol has been shown to be beneficial in reducing cancer risk.

Although there are multiple scientific studies that support vitamin E’s role in fighting cancer, not all studies involving vitamin E and cancer have found a beneficial effect, and this seems to be particularly true in the case of prostate cancer.

For example, one study of men who currently smoked or who had smoked but had quit found that they had a reduction in prostate cancer risk when taking 400 international units (IU) of vitamin E daily. In another clinical trial, male smokers who took 111 IU of a synthetic form of vitamin E daily for eight years had a 32 percent lower risk of developing prostate cancer than those who did not take the supplement.

By contrast, a large, randomized clinical trial found that supplementation with 400 IU of synthetic vitamin E daily didn’t reduce the risk of prostate cancer in healthy men older than 50. In fact, the men who had taken the vitamin E had a 17 percent higher risk of prostate cancer than the men who had taken the placebos.

This discrepancy could be because there are various types of vitamin E, and some studies use natural sources while others use synthetic forms of the vitamin. Natural and synthetic vitamin E are not equivalent in composition, structure, or bioavailability.

The study a higher risk of prostate cancer among men who had taken vitamin E had used all rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate—a synthetic form of vitamin E.

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May Benefit the Brain

Some scientific studies have suggested that vitamin E could protect the brain from memory loss and cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia—although the results of multiple studies on the subject have been mixed.

A 2021 narrative review found that vitamin E supplementation protected the brain against the effects of mild traumatic brain injury on synaptic plasticity and cognition. It also found that vitamin E decreased the rate of mild cognitive impairment, which is the initial stage in the development of dementia.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and by 2050, that number is projected to swell to a staggering 13 million. Therefore, it’s urgent to find better ways to treat the disease, or preferably, to preserve brain function in an aging population.

One review published in 2019 stated that vitamin E is important for brain health because of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties, and that levels of vitamin E in dementia patients are lower than in those without the disease. But, the evidence for vitamin E’s ability to treat dementia is still “mixed and inconclusive,” it stated. These findings suggest that more research is needed to understand the relationship between vitamin E and disorders of the brain.

Important Considerations

Most of the benefits of vitamin E have been found by studying alpha-tocopherol, although recently there has been more focus on other forms, particularly tocotrienol, which is thought to have higher antioxidant potential than tocopherol, leading some to call it the “21st-century form of vitamin E.”

When looking at vitamin E’s beneficial effects, it’s important to consider the type of vitamin E as well as its source—natural or synthetic—as synthetic forms don’t seem to have the same benefits as vitamin E compounds that come from natural sources.

It’s always best to get the vitamins and minerals our bodies need from our diet. Granted, this has become increasingly difficult because of soil depletion, the ubiquitous use of chemical pesticides, and the increase in processed foods. If you aren’t able to eat your vitamins and minerals, then taking the best quality supplement that you can afford is a great option to supplement your diet.

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Here are some of the best food sources of vitamin E, both plant and animal:

Plant Sources

• Wheat germ oil (Note: Consuming refined wheat depletes the body of vitamin E.)
• Sunflower seeds
• Almonds
• Hazelnuts
• Mango
• Mamey Sapote
• Avocado
• Butternut squash
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Kiwi
• Tomato
• Pine nuts
• Peanuts and peanut butter
• Red bell pepper
• Turnip greens, beet greens
• Asparagus
• Swiss chard

Animal Sources

• Abalone
• Goose meat
• Atlantic salmon
• Rainbow trout

Dosage

According to the Linus Pauling Institute, the recommended daily intake of vitamin E in the form of alpha-tocopherol for adults 19 years and older is 15 milligrams daily, or 22.5 IU. The dosage is also 15 milligrams for pregnant women, but increases to 19 milligrams a day for breastfeeding mothers.

Most people get enough vitamin E in their diet, so those who want to supplement should make sure to consult a reliable source and take safe amounts. Remember that the type of vitamin E molecule matters, as does its source, and that natural sources are always preferable.