Do You Have a Vitamin E Deficiency?

Vitamin E is an important fat-soluble vitamin and antioxidant that helps combat damaging free radicals.

Insufficient vitamin E can increase your risk for a wide variety of problems, including:

1. Immune dysfunction

2. Loss of muscle mass, muscle weakness and an unsteady gait

3. Cardiac arrhythmias and cardiovascular disease

4. Vision problems, including constriction of your visual field; abnormal eye movements and blindness

5. Dementia, cognitive deterioration and early onset Alzheimer's disease

6. Liver and kidney problems

Studies have also found that low vitamin E levels tend to be associated with a higher risk of cancer.

A vitamin E deficiency during pregnancy can be particularly problematic. Babies who are deficient in vitamin E are at increased risk for immune and vision problems. Being deficient in vitamin E during pregnancy, also raises your risk for a miscarriage.

The primary reason for such a widespread deficiency in vitamin E, is the fact that most people eat a primarily processed food diet, which tends to be lacking not only in vitamin E but also in many other important antioxidants and micronutrients, including healthy fats.

Vitamin E is fat-soluble. If you're on a low-fat diet, you may simply have too little fat to properly absorb the vitamin E present in the foods that you eat or the supplements that you take. Studies have shown your body will only absorb about 10% of the vitamin E from a supplement, when you take it without fat.

Synthetic vitamin E is derived from petrochemicals and has known toxic effects, yet synthetic alpha-tocopherol is the type most commonly used when investigating the health effects of vitamin E. To get the best vitamin E, make sure to get natural and not synthetic vitamin E, but expect to pay more for the real thing.

Taking your vitamin E with some healthy fat, such as coconut oil or avocado can help increase the absorption of the vitamin E.

Vitamin E can easily be obtained from a healthy diet. The plant based foods are best eaten raw, as cooking will destroy some of the natural nutrients.

1. Leafy greens

2. High-fat foods such as nuts, seeds and fatty fish/seafood, including shrimps and sardines

3. Oil-rich/high-fat plants such as olives and avocados

Look For Vitamin E Supplements That:

1. Are made with natural vitamin E

2. Are free of soy or soybean oil derivatives

3. Are free of genetically modified ingredients

4. Have a balance of all four varieties of vitamin E, which are; d-alpha tocopherol, d-beta tocopherol, d-delta tocopherol and d-gamma tocopherol

Read More