The Label
Vitamin E — 7.4 mg
The antioxidant that works by taking the hit itself. Here is what it is, what it does, and what our figure means.
What Vitamin E Is
Vitamin E is not one molecule but a family of eight, four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Only alpha-tocopherol is preferentially retained by a transfer protein in your liver, which is why it is the form that counts nutritionally and the form used on labels.
It is fat soluble, and that is the whole point of it: it dissolves into the fatty interior of a cell membrane and stays there, which is exactly where the damage it prevents takes place.
What It Does
Stopping the chain reaction
Cell membranes are built from polyunsaturated fats, and those fats oxidise in chain reactions where one damaged molecule attacks the next along the membrane. Alpha-tocopherol steps in front of that chain, absorbs the reaction and stops the propagation. A single molecule can protect a great many membrane lipids by ending the cascade rather than by neutralising one attacker.
Working with vitamin C
Having taken the hit, the vitamin E molecule is left spent. Vitamin C regenerates it from the watery side of the membrane, which is why a panel carrying one and not the other is only doing half a job.
In the sebum layer
Vitamin E is secreted onto the skin surface in sebum, where it forms part of the outermost antioxidant defence against ultraviolet light and pollution. It is depleted by sun exposure, which means the surface layer is consumed on exactly the days it is most needed.
Our Amount
7.4 mg In Every Serving
Our serving carries 7.4 mg of alpha-tocopherol. Adult requirements sit around 15 mg a day and most diets containing nuts, seeds or vegetable oils meet that comfortably. This is a supporting amount that keeps the recycling loop with vitamin C intact.
Cell membranes are built from fats that oxidise in chain reactions, one molecule setting off the next along the membrane. Vitamin E sits inside the membrane and steps in front of that reaction, absorbing it so the membrane survives. Vitamin C then regenerates the vitamin E so it can go again, which is why the two belong on a label together.
When People Fall Short
Deficiency is rare in people who eat normally, because vitamin E is abundant in nuts, seeds and vegetable oils. Where it occurs it is almost always secondary to a condition that impairs fat absorption — cystic fibrosis, Crohn's disease, cholestatic liver disease, or surgery that has shortened the small intestine.
The signs are neurological before they are cutaneous: poor coordination, muscle weakness, disturbed sensation in the hands and feet.
Where It Occurs In Food
| Source | Roughly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sunflower seeds | About 7.4 mg per 30 g | The same figure as our serving, from a small handful |
| Almonds | About 6.8 mg per 30 g | Consistently among the densest sources |
| Sunflower oil | About 5.6 mg per tablespoon | Cooking oils do most of the work in a typical diet |
| Hazelnuts | About 4.3 mg per 30 g | Also useful |
| Avocado | About 2.7 mg each | Modest but popular |
| Spinach, cooked | About 1.9 mg per half cup | Small contributions, often |
The Ceiling, And The Cautions
The adult upper limit is 1000 mg a day for supplemental alpha-tocopherol, and our 7.4 mg is a fraction of a percent of it.
The one caution worth naming: vitamin E at high supplemental doses has an antiplatelet effect and can add to the action of warfarin, aspirin or other blood thinners. At the amount on our panel this is not a practical concern, but it is worth mentioning to a doctor if you are on anticoagulants and taking anything else containing vitamin E as well.
Answers
Vitamin E Questions
The questions we are asked about this nutrient specifically.
Should I put vitamin E oil on my skin instead?
Topical vitamin E is a reasonable emollient and a poor scar treatment; the studies on scars are unimpressive and contact dermatitis is not unusual. Swallowed vitamin E is doing a different job inside membranes.
Is natural vitamin E better than synthetic?
The natural form is retained rather better by the transfer protein in your liver, which is why labels distinguish the two. At the amounts in a daily panel the practical difference is small.
Does it prevent wrinkles?
No supplement prevents wrinkles. What antioxidants plausibly do is reduce a portion of the oxidative load skin carries, and sunscreen does far more for the same outcome.
Can I take it with fish oil?
Yes, and many fish oil products already contain vitamin E as a preservative against rancidity. Check the label and add the figures together.