'E' is for everyone

Better Nutrition (1989-90), Jan, 1989 by Frank Murray

`E' Is For Everyone

The power of vitamin E is related to its function as an antioxidant, an agent that retards the corrosive effects of oxygen. Vitamin E protects cells from toxic substances and offers lungs protection against pollution. The vitamin is important for cellular respiration and is a cofactor in the synthesis of vitamin C and coenzyme Q.

Supplemental vitamin E may be beneficial in the management of premenstrual syndrome, according to Robert S. London, M.D., and colleagues at North Charles Hospital, a Johns Hopkins Health Systems Institution in Baltimore.

In London's study, standard PMS questionnaires were given to 46 women with PMS during ovulation. The women were surveyed each day before and after they had received 400 IU of vitamin E or a placebo.

"A significant improvement in certain affective and physical symptoms was noted in the subjects treated with vitamin E," said the researchers. "The results of the present investigation are consistent with our previous observations that alpha-tocopherol [vitamin E] supplementation reduces symptoms of PMS, with no demonstrable side effects."

An Israeli research team concluded vitamin E plays a role in preventing coronary heart disease. Thirty patients received 500 International Units (IU) of vitamin E daily for 90 days, while 30 other volunteers were given a placebo. High-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good" cholesterol) levels rose 13.6 percent, compared to a 3.8 percent increase for those taking a placebo. The researchers found the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol levels dropped 23 percent in those given the vitamin, compared to 9.3 percent for the control group.

In the late 1970s, Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., and associates at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash., indicated that higher-than-average amounts of vitamin E help slow the aging process of cells, according to Herbert Bailey in E: The Essential Vitamin.

"Dr. Bland and his associates penetrated the role of vitamin E at the molecular and cellular level in a series of the most brilliant studies it has been my privilege to read, demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt the truth of what hundreds of researchers and clinicans had been saying for 20 years," Bailey wrote.

Two studies have demonstrated vitamin E's effectiveness both in easing the side effects of cancer treatment and in preventing cancer itself.

Emilia A. Perez Ripoli, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, demonstrated that vitamin E offers protection against the side effects of adriamycin, a drug used alone or with chemotherapy to treat prostate cancer.

Another study showed men with higher levels of vitamin E have a lower risk of cancer. Paul Knekt, M.D., et al., published his results in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The 10-year study involved 21,172 men, aged 15 to 99, in six geographic regions of Finland.

"The main finding of this longitudinal study was that men with higher serum alpha-tocopherol levels had a lower risk of cancer than did other men," the researchers reported. "This effect was strongest with regard to cancers unrelated to smoking."

One doctor believes antioxidants like vitamin E are so essential to the destruction of free-roaming chemicals in the body that can cause cancer, heart disease and other problems, that their Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) should be increased. Antioxidants like vitamins E, C and A, selenium and beta-carotene may be too low, according to Anthony T. Diplock, M.D., of Guy's Hospital, London.

Good food sources of vitamin E include almonds, peanuts, raw blackberries, boiled asparagus, oatmeal, raw avocados, butter, boiled lobster, salmon, raw broccoli and raw tomatoes. Many oils are rich in vitamin E, including wheat germ oil, sunflower seed oil, almond oil, safflower oil and rice bran oil. For those who do not get sufficient vitamin E in their diets, a supplement may be useful.

REFERENCES 1. Ensminger, Audrey, H., et al., Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia.

Clovis, Calif., Pegus Press, 1983. 2. Adams, Ruth and Murray, Frank. Vitamin E, Wonder

Worker of the '70s? New York, Larchmont Books,

1971. 3. American Health, May/June 1983. 4. Bailey, Herbert, E: The Essential Vitamin. New York

Bantam Books, 1983. 5. Israel Journal of Medical Sciences 23:869, 1987. 6. London, Robert S. M.D., et al., "Efficacy of Alpha

Tocopherol in the Treatment of the Premenstrual

Syndrome." The Journal of Reproductive Medicine

June 1987. 7. Diplock, Anthony T., M.D., "Dietary Supplementation

with Antioxidants. Is There a Case for Exceeding

the Recommended Dietary Allowance?" Free

Radical Biology and Medicine. 3:199-201, 1987. 8. Tanner, A.R., M.D., et al., "Depressed Selenium and

Vitamin E Levels in an Alcoholic Population." Digestive

Diseases and Sciences, December 1986. 9. Perez Ripoli, Emilia A., M.D., et al., "Vitamin E Enhances

the Chemotherapeutic Effects of Adriamycin

on Human Prostatic Carcinoma Cells in Vitro." The

Journal of Urology, August 1986. 10. Ogunmekan, A.O., M.D., "Is There a Role for vitamin