The benefits and harms of taking vitamin E supplements
Over 11% of adults in the US take vitamin E supplements. In this video, I’m going to discuss the benefits and harms of taking vitamin E supplements.
Numerous foods are rich in vitamin E. This table shows the Vitamin E Content in Selected Foods. As shown here, wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds and almonds contain high levels of vitamin E.
Here is a table of the recommended dietary allowances for vitamin E for different age groups. The requirement for vitamin E increases with age. Breast-feeding women need more vitamin E.
Many claims have been made about the benefits of vitamin E supplements.
However, most of the claims have not been supported by solid Scientific evidence. For example, vitamin E supplements do not help maintain cognitive function or slow cognitive decline in healthy or mildly impaired individuals. Vitamin E supplements do not prevent cardiovascular disease or reduce its morbidity and mortality. There is insufficient evidence to support the claim that taking vitamin E prevents cancer or reduces the risk of developing Age-related macular degeneration or cataracts.
One likely benefit of vitamin E is daily intake of 180 mg vitamin E with 500 mg vitamin C, 15 mg beta-carotene, 80 mg zinc, and 2 mg copper might slow the progression of Age-related macular degeneration in people at high risk.
Although research has not found any adverse effects from vitamin E intake from foods, Taking vitamin E supplements can be harmful to peoples’ health.
It has been shown that taking large doses of vitaminE with anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications increases the risk of bleeding.
Taking Vitamin E supplements 180 mg a day may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer in adult men.
Two clinical trials have found that Vitamin E supplements may increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. One group of participants in the clinical trials took 50 mg of vitamin E daily for an average of 6 years. The other group consumed of 180 mg vitamin E every other day for 8 years.
Analyses have shown that Vitamin E supplement consumption increases all-cause mortality.
Because of the risk of hemorrhagic stroke from taking vitamin E supplements, the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for Vitamin E have been established as shown in this table. These Upper Intake Levels are significantly higher than the recommended dietary allowances for vitamin E. Because some studies have indicated the harms of taking vitamin E supplements below The Upper Intake Levels, it is recommended that you obtain as much vitamin E from food sources as possible and consult your physicians before you consume vitamin E supplements.