Vitamin E Benefits for Better Health, from Inside and Out.

Vitamin E benefits our body in many ways. Most of it targets our immune system and heart functions. Other benefits focus on vision, reduce risk of cancer, and cell protection.  With this, taking vitamin E provides more than singular health benefits.

Vitamin E benefits come in several forms with a fundamental role as an antioxidant to reduce free radicals that can damage cells. Though vitamin E has many compounds, only the alpha-tocopherol is used by our body. What else can it do?

With its many benefits, vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin. It ensures that our body will not suffer from a deficiency in vitamin E. The defect is usually a result of a lack of vitamin E rich foods in our body.

Consumption of vitamin E is through a healthy diet. Some foods can provide us with the benefits of vitamin E. Some of it comes from natural food sources, and others are from supplements. Unlike natural food sources, vitamin E supplements should be taken with caution. There are side effects of taking too many supplements like overdosing. It may occur when you have existing medications.

Recommended Dietary Allowance

To avoid deficiency and to overdose, there are recommended dietary allowance for vitamin E. To make it simple, the dosage of vitamin E depends on your age and gender. It goes the same way with other vitamins.

With vitamin E, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for children 1 – 3 years old is 6 mg per day or 9 IU and 7 mg per day or 10.4 IU for 4 – 8 years old. For 9 – 13 years old, the RDA is 11 mg per day or 16.4 IU. When it comes to adults, the RDA is 15 mg per day or 22.4 IU for males and females. But there is an exception for pregnant women, which is about 15 mg per day or 22.4 IU and for lactating is 19 mg per day or 28.5 IU.

If you have a deficiency, the maximum dosage of vitamin E for adults is 1,000 mg per day or 1,465 IU. However, you need to seek medical advice first before doing this, especially when you are on blood-thinning medications.

But how does vitamin E deficiency happen in our body? Since we consume vitamin E, malabsorption may occur, which results in vitamin E deficiency. You can know if you have a lack if you have symptoms like anemia, skeletal myopathy, peripheral neuropathy and impairment of the immune response.

What are the food sources?

Vitamin E benefits our body by resolving vitamin E deficiency. Foods like nuts and vegetables are good sources of vitamin E. These foods have vitamin E that is beneficial to your health. You can add this to your diet or even to your regular meals.

Eating healthy foods does not mean you have a deficiency or something is wrong with your health. In some way, vitamin e benefits us if we consider healthy foods for your meal. It will keep your body in good condition. As vitamin E provides our body with the needed antioxidants, we need to consume more healthy foods with Vitamin E.

Nuts

For instance, you can consider almonds as one of the best vitamin E foods. Just an ounce of almonds can provide you about 7.4 mg of vitamin E. You can also have almond milk and almond oil to enjoy the vitamin E benefits.

Other than almonds, you can have hazelnuts. Hazelnuts can provide your body with 20% of vitamin E RDA. Others consume hazelnut milk as an alternative to vitamin E benefits.

You can also have pine nuts to have vitamin E benefits. Others use pine nut oil for additional body benefits.

Some Seeds

Vitamin E benefits our body through the consumption of seeds like sunflower, pumpkin and sesame. Eating a quarter cup of sunflower seeds can give us almost the RDA of vitamin E. This is considered one of the most convenient ways of eating vitamin E foods.

Green Leafy Vegetables

Who would have thought that green leafy vegetables can be a good source of vitamin E? With these vegetables, vitamin E benefits to our body that we need to be healthy.

One of the green leafy vegetables that we consider is the swiss chard. Just a cup of swiss chard green can give us 17% of the daily recommended vitamin E. You can make sure to have your 100% RDA of vitamin E by adding this vegetable to your meal. You can also have the mustard greens. Even it contains 14% of daily requirements, it will be exciting to combine these greens to other vitamin E sources.

Some other green leafy vegetables are broccoli, spinach, turnip greens, and kale. Each of them offers different vitamin E daily requirements. However, it is essential to know other vitamin E sources. The vitamin E benefits our body with these green leafy vegetables. Aside from vitamin E, we can get different vitamins and minerals.

Plant Oils

Plant oil as a source of vitamin E can be from wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, cottonseed oil and other seed oils. The oil with vitamin E benefits us with as much as 100% of the daily requirements. These vitamin-E-rich oils are usually cold-pressed, unrefined and organic, making it still a natural source.

Fruits

Moving on, from nuts to vegetables to seed soils, fruits can provide us with the vitamin E benefits that our body needs. Some of the fruits to be considered are avocado, olives, and papaya. These fruits should be part of your vitamin E sources.

For instance, avocado contains more than 2 mg of vitamin E, while papaya has 17% of the daily requirements. For olives, you can have 20% of your daily recommended allowance.

These fruits are versatile so that you can consume it in many ways. As for avocado, you can make the famous guacamole for salad, sandwiches and other food recipes. Papaya, on the other hand, can be made from smoothies and other healthy snacks. And for olives, the last but not the least in our list, you can add this to your favorite salad as toppings.

Some Spices

Some spices, such as parsley, can also bring to your plate the vitamin E benefits you need. Parsley is one of the best vitamin E sources. You can have it fresh for your salads or dried. But we recommend it fresh for better results.

Best Reasons Why Vitamin E

We are familiar with the daily recommended requirements of vitamin E., And we are aware of the natural food sources to get the full vitamin E benefits. But what good will it bring to our health?

The primary role of vitamin E in our body is to provide antioxidants and address chronic diseases from developing. So, let’s consume and reap the many benefits of healthy vitamin E foods.

Maintain Good Cholesterol

Vitamin E benefits our body with good cholesterol. This good cholesterol is the compound made by the liver, which contributes to the proper functions of cells, nerves and hormones. But when the cholesterol oxidizes, it becomes bad cholesterols. At this point, vitamin E provides antioxidants to fight the oxidation. It is one of the fundamental roles of vitamin E.

The compound in vitamin E that is responsible for preventing bad cholesterols is tocotrienol isomers. These isomers have three double bonds that protect our heart arteries from thickening or what doctors call atherosclerosis. This process is not fully available during the consumption of synthetic vitamin E.

Reduce the progression of cancer cells

Vitamin E benefits come in the form of fighting cancer cells in our bodies. With the right amounts of antioxidants in our body, it can prevent heart diseases and cancers. Since cancer cells or free radicals are formed naturally in our bodies, we need vitamins to counter-attack these damaged cells. Vitamin E benefits our cells by limiting the damage cells. It is how the prevention of more severe problems can be taken care of.

Aside from fighting off free radical cells in our body, antioxidants in vitamin E benefits our cells to naturally age slowly. Also, antioxidants prevent heart diseases and increase our immune system. A robust immune system and a healthy heart can lead us to good health. Common illnesses and medical conditions can be prevented with adequate amounts of vitamin E in our bodies.

Moreover, vitamin E benefits those who are receiving medical treatments such as dialysis and chemotherapy for treating cancers. During these treatments, our immune system becomes weak, and we need more antioxidants to keep our body fighting off the remaining free radicals. The treatment of cancers does not only kill the damaged cells, but it also eradicates the functional cells. It is unavoidable, so what our body needs during the treatment sessions are a support to our immune system. Our body should be prepared to avoid complications and other unwanted side effects.

The isomers of vitamin E can be used for cancer protection, as well. According to a study, vitamin E contributes to the suppression of tumor growth with oral doses of tocotrienols. It works by turning off the genes tied to cancer and inhibiting angiogenesis or the abnormal growth of blood vessels inside a tumor. Some of the cancers that can be prevented by vitamin E compounds are breast, prostate, hepatic and skin cancers.

Promotes Healthy Skin

The vitamin E benefits our skin by providing moisture, elasticity and strengthening of walls of our skin. This vitamin will boost the natural anti-aging nutrients within our bodies. It reduces inflammation to your skin to give you healthier and youthful skin. But what vitamin E benefits our skin is the antioxidants working to keep our skin from sunlight and protecting it against skin cancer.

Other skin diseases such as acne and eczema can be prevented by vitamin E. Also, foods rich in vitamin E benefits our skin by treating sunburn and promoting cell regeneration to lessen scars and wrinkles.

Prevents Hormonal Imbalance

Other vitamin E benefits include balancing our hormones in the endocrine and nervous system. Both of which maintain our weight at healthy levels and keep the menstrual cycle regular. Yes, vitamin E contributes to reducing Pre Menstrual Syndrome symptoms such as cramps, anxiety and cravings. Just take vitamin E supplements a week before your menstrual cycle begins to reduce the PMS symptoms. It also makes your cycle regulated by balancing your hormones.

Healthy Scalp

A healthy scalp is one of vitamin E benefits by providing it with natural moisture. Using vitamin E oil prevents the dryness and flakes on your scalp. It also provides a healthier and fresher hair look. And you can feel the difference immediately after just a few drops of it to your hair.

Address Vision Problems

Moreover, vitamin E benefits our eyesight by decreasing the risk of age-related macular degeneration, which can result in blindness if left untreated. With other vitamins like A and C, it can improve your vision and the healing after eye surgery.

Increase Memory

As we age, we tend to lose memory function. It happens because of the deficiency in vitamins, particularly vitamin E. Vitamin E benefits the brain by providing anti-inflammatory against causing Alzheimer’s disease. Other brain disorders that vitamin E can prevent is dementia. With adequate amounts of vitamin E in our body, it can slow down other brain disorders, while increasing our memory.

What we think of Vitamin E

Indeed, vitamin E benefits our body in many ways. Our body can enjoy the full package of vitamin E with natural food sources and supplements. To complete our diet, adding some vitamin E foods can provide adequate amounts of antioxidants. If you want to take vitamin E supplements, make sure to get a medical prescription before accepting it as self-medication.