Vitamin E

The role of vitamin E in the human body is not clearly established, but it is known to be an essential nutrient in more than 20 vertebrate species. The vitamin plays some role in forming red blood cells and muscle and other tissues and in preventing the oxidation of vitamin A and fats. It is found in vegetable oils, wheat germ, liver, and leafy green vegetables. Vitamin E is popularly advocated for a wide range of diseases, but no substantial evidence has been found to back these claims. Although vitamin E is stored in the body, overdoses appear to have lower toxic effects than do overdoses of other fat-soluble vitamins. See: Vitamins

More on Vitamin E

What foods provide vitamin E?

Vegetable oils, nuts, green leafy vegetables, and fortified cereals are common food sources of vitamin E in the United States (U.S.). Table 1, Selected Food Sources of Vitamin E, suggests many food sources of vitamin E. Food values are listed in alpha-tocopherol equivalents (ATE) to account for the variation in biological activity of the different forms of vitamin E.

Table 1: Selected Food Sources of Vitamin E 

*DV = Daily Value. DVs are reference numbers developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers determine if a food contains a lot or a little of a specific nutrient. The DV for vitamin E is 30 International Units (or 20 mg ATE). Most food labels do not list a food's vitamin E content. The percent DV (%DV) listed on the table indicates the percentage of the DV provided in one serving. A food providing 5% of the DV or less is a low source while a food that provides 10-19% of the DV is a good source. A food that provides 20% or more of the DV is high in that nutrient. It is important to remember that foods that provide lower percentages of the DV also contribute to a healthful diet. For foods not listed in this table, please refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database Web site: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl.

Recommendations for vitamin E are provided in the Dietary Reference Intakes developed by the Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) is the general term for a set of reference values used for planning and assessing nutrient intake for healthy people. Three important types of reference values included in the DRIs are Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), Adequate Intakes (AI), and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL). The RDA recommends the average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98%) healthy individuals in each age and gender group . An AI is set when there is insufficient scientific data available to establish a RDA. AIs meet or exceed the amount needed to maintain a nutritional state of adequacy in nearly all members of a specific age and gender group. The UL, on the other hand, is the maximum daily intake unlikely to result in adverse health effects.

In Table 2, RDAs for vitamin E are listed as Alpha-Tocopherol Equivalents (ATE) to account for the different biological activities of the various forms of vitamin E

. Table 2 also lists RDAs for vitamin E in International Units (IU) because food and some supplement labels list vitamin E content in International Units (1 mg ATE vitamin E = 1.5 IU).

Table 2: Recommended Dietary Allowances for Vitamin E for Children and Adults

There is insufficient scientific data on vitamin E to establish an RDA for infants. An Adequate Intake (AI) has been established that is based on the amount of vitamin E consumed by healthy infants who are fed breast milk. Table 2 lists the adequate intakes for vitamin E for infants in mg ATE and IUs (1 mg ATE vitamin E = 1.5 IU) .

Table 3: Adequate Intake for Vitamin E for Infants

Results of two national surveys, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III 1988-94) and the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (1994-96 CSFII) indicated that diets of most Americans do not provide the recommended intake for vitamin E. However, an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on vitamin E published in 2000 states that intake estimates of vitamin E may be low because energy and fat intake are often underreported in national surveys and because the kind and amount of fat added during cooking is often not known. The IOM states that most North American adults get enough vitamin E from their normal diets to meet current recommendations. However, they do caution that low fat diets can result in a significant decrease in vitamin E intake. "Low-fat diets can substantially decrease vitamin E intakes if food choices are not carefully made to enhance α-tocopherol intakes" .

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Vitamin A

Vitamin B1-Thiamine

Vitamin B2

Vitamin B3 - Niacin

Vitamin B6 - Pyridoxine

Vitamin B12 - Cobalamin

Other B Vitamins

Vitamin C

Vitamin D

"Vitamin," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2005
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