Health Hotline Magazine | June 2022

Vitamin E Is the E-ssential Antioxidant for Immunity + Beyond

Shifting gears to yet another “forgotten” fat-soluble nutrient—natural vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) is the major antioxidant in the human body and is critical for the optimal functioning of all cells, protecting them from oxidative damage. This has wide implications for immunity, cardiovascular health, cognitive health, and more.

It’s Eas-E to Support Brain Health Vitamin E has been shown to be lower in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to healthy individuals, and some studies have shown that supplementing with vitamin E can slow cognitive and functional decline (the ability to perform daily activities), decrease caregiver burden, and even increase overall survival rate. One study

A Health-E Robust Immune System

compared vitamin E’s ability to slow the progression of AD in patients with “moderately severe impairment” to the drug selegiline, with the study concluding that treatment with 2,000 IU of vitamin E daily slowed the progression of the disease as well as the drug.

Our immune cells are not “immune” to oxidative stress. In fact, significant oxidative damage can kill key immune cells, hindering the body’s immune response. But in a 2015 study published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine , researchers discovered that vitamin E protected T-cells that had significant oxidative damage from death and restored their ability to replicate in response to a virus. T-cells are a type of white blood cell that plays a central role in immunity. Earlier research has shown that vitamin E supplementation also increases the activity of neutrophils, another key immune cell. Vitamin E also seems to o er immune- boosting benefits to the senior population, a group that naturally sees a decrease in immune function with age, characterized by declining T-cell function. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial that included 451 people living in nursing homes found that one year of supplementation with 200 IU of vitamin E daily led to a decrease in the incidence of the common cold. Another small trial found that 300 IU of vitamin E daily for six months improved overall immune function in older individuals, bringing them close to the same immune function measured in healthy younger adult controls. In addition to restoring T-cell function, vitamin E also inhibits the production of prostaglandin E2, an inflammatory molecule that contributes to pain.

Support Fertility Naturall-E

As an antioxidant, vitamin E also exerts beneficial e ects to improve general reproductive health in women and men. In women, it helps support healthy cervical mucous so sperm can stay alive longer and helps increase the thickness of the endometrium (the uterine lining), which can be a determining factor for successful implantation. Results from a study showed that 52 percent of women who were given 600 mg of vitamin E daily had improved endometrial thickness.

In men, low levels of vitamin E is also believed to play a role in poor sperm quality and mobility. According to one study, “antioxidants like vitamin E were found to have a significant positive e ect on sperm count and function. Vitamin E has also been found to protect the sperm membrane from oxidative damage which is essential for good sperm health.” Together, the “forgotten” nutrients, vitamins K + E, can help us achieve that whole-body health we’re after. They hold the key to unlocking a lifetime of good health and a quality healthspan worth living.

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