What is vitamin E? What does vitamin E do? In the format most familiar to America, it is also named A-tocopherol, and it is the most active vitamin E type. The highest amount of this vitamin per serving can be found in wheat germ oil (not recommended), sunflower oil (not recommended), and almonds. Vitamin E acts as a fat- soluble ingredient which offers antioxidants, and it helps to arrest the development of reactive oxygen species, during the process when fat goes through oxidation.
And yet, most people want to know more specifically, what does vitamin E do for the body? Well, besides being an important antioxidant, vitamin E includes benefits for our genes, our enzymes, and our neurological systems. Research also links vitamin E to cell development and signals.
What does vitamin E do as an antioxidant? It prevents formation of free radicals in the body’s tissues. It also needs vitamin C to accomplish this. Since it is soluble, vitamin E is used in cell membranes, and they are protected from oxidative damage.
Vitamin E helps out enzymes by being a type of activity supervisor for protein kinases (main cell function regulators in humans who have around 500 protein kinase genes); this ensures a smoother muscle growth in our bodies. Gene-wise, vitamin E is related to the repair of the CTGF gene, which repairs wounds and regenerates extracellular tissue.
What does vitamin E do for our lipids, or molecules that constitute the structure and function of living cells in our body? It also protects them and stops oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, thus enabling their absorption into the body.
Some of the vitamin E benefits for men, for instance, have shown that it can help prevent heart disease! In one Finnish study there was a group of 5,133 men and women that were tested in a span of 14 years. Those people with higher vitamin E intake had a lower death rate from heart disease. For men, this vitamin also helps slow or stop the growth of cancer cells which are lead by hormonal cases, such as prostate cancer.
Vitamin E can protect our body against cancer because it can envelop the cells and defend from damaging free radicals, which eventually may lead to cancer development. Vitamin E may block carcinogens in the stomach when we eat foods filled with nitrites, and vitamin E will help our immune system function strongly.
Vitamin E can even help men prevent cataracts because, according to research, the lens clarity is far better in people who take vitamin E supplements and those who have higher levels of vitamin E in their bloodstream.
Women can surely apply the vitamin to their health as well. Some of the vitamin E benefits for women include a reduced risk of dying from a stroke, especially in women who are post menopause. Vitamin E will reduce some of the known unpleasant symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes. It will also help women avoid having a miscarriage, especially in cases where vitamin E deficiency was the leading factor.
What does vitamin E do when taking a vitamin E capsule? First of all, the capsule can protect the oil from spoiling, and the capsule is able to camouflage any unwanted tastes or scents.
Vitamin E can be used topically on the skin to help protect skin before sun exposure, and to aid in natural healing of recent wounds or injuries.
Vitamin E capsules, which are taken orally, will act as an antioxidant in our body, a preventative measure against cancer, and vitamin E will help your immune system work properly. Vitamin E is definitely the one vitamin that would be a great addition to your diet, as a daily supplement or a topical aid!
