Vitamin E Supplements May be Good for Your Arteries
~ May 2001 No.126 ~
Vitamin E is well known for a variety of health related reasons. It is at the head of the list of known antioxidants; many of the beneficial effects ascribed to vitamin E are due to its protective properties as an antioxidant. Common foods which are good sources of vitamin E include wheat germ, corn, nuts, seeds, olives, spinach, asparagus, and other green leafy vegetables, vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed), and products made from them such as margarine.
Recently, at a conference on cardiovascular disease, Dr. James Dwyer of the University of Southern California presented data that showed high doses of vitamin E may prevent the development of hardening of the arteries - a condition that if left unchecked can lead to stroke and heart attacks. Dr. Dwyer measured the build-up of plaque in the carotid artery of both men and women over a 3 year period and then did a correlation between plaque build-up and intake of various antioxidants. Vitamin C was not beneficial against the buildup of plaque and, if anything, appeared to make the situation worse. However, those subjects that had the highest intake of vitamin E had the lowest plaque build-up.
The results of Dr. Dwyer support the idea of supplementation because the levels of vitamin E necessary to reduce the build-up of plaque were much higher than is normally obtained through the diet. It is generally accepted that a daily intake of about 15 milligrams per day is sufficient to meet nutritional needs. In Dwyer´s subjects, those getting more than 300 milligrams, and some as high as 1,000 milligrams of vitamin E per day, showed the best results.
- Those in need of extra vitamin E
- liver disease patients
- pancreas disease patients
- intestinal disease patients
- Conditions Reported to be Helped by Vitamin E
- treatment of acne, aging, loss of hair, bee stings, liver spots on the hands, bursitis, diaper rash, frostbite, stomach ulcer, heart attacks, labor pains, certain blood diseases, miscarriage, muscular dystrophy, poor posture, sexual impotence, sterility, infertility, menopause, sunburn, and lung damage from air pollution
September 05 2015