Health Food Better than Vitamin Supplements: Why More Vitamin E's not Always Better

What to make of confusing reports in the media about the benefits of vitamin E?

Doctors and scientists have certainly since the 1920's reported the benefits of vitamin E, showing fewer miscarriages in pregnant women, and dramatic improvements in heart function and blood flow. (Drs. Evan Shute, obstetrician and William Shute, cardiologist)

And, a volume of research shows that antioxidants protect not only against heart disease and cancers, but also against Parkinsons, Macular Degeneration, Alzheimers Disease -- and the aging process itself.

• But, while supplementing is recommended, more's not always better -- anti oxidants can sometimes act as pro-oxidants, say scientists.

Scientists are still writing the book on the benefits of food versus isolated antioxidants in vitamin supplements.

• Researchers continue to discover how antioxidants protect and are finding that balance is essential, which is difficult to get by taking a hand full of pills!

Simple health foods and "super foods" are still your best bet. See new dietary antioxidant discoveries for: Parkinsons Disease * Alzheimers Disease * Cataracts, Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration *

Use Vitamin Supplements? Yes - Just Don't Count On Pills Alone

For instance, in the Framington study of nurses, those taking folic acid and vitamin B supplements had less heart disease, along with those who had a higher than average dietary intake of folate and vitamin B6.

These results were published in the JAMA: "Intake of folate and vitamin B6 ABOVE the current recommended dietary allowance may be important in the PRIMARY PREVENTION of heart disease."

• A good multiple vitamin/mineral as "insurance" has definitely been shown to be preventive, as is taking extra calcium and vitamin D.

The Vitamin E Debate

• The vitamin E debate heated up in 2005 when a report of a meta-analysis of 19 studies suggested that taking daily doses exceeding 400 IU's, slightly increased risk of death.

The analysis was criticized because the subjects in these studies had a history of heart disease, were on a variety of meds, and the studies failed to distinguish between synthetic and natural vitamin E.

• More recent research is showing that vitamin E in its natural form is actually a family of 8 related compounds, and that each of these compounds have unique functions including being anti inflammatory, cardio protective and anti cancer.

SCROLL DOWN FOR: Shedding Light on the Antioxidant Vitamin E Confusion

• One fact is emerging – that when an antioxidant is taken out of a food and isolated by being put into a supplement form, it may not work as well, and there is also no guarantee that it will continue to act as an antioxidant.

It could in fact turn into a pro-oxidant, having the opposite effect. Why is that?

Sledgehammer or Delicate Balance?

These molecules stop and even repair damage to cells caused by highly reactive molecules called free radicals -- the harmful molecules that are generated as a result of breathing and exposure to sunlight, or oxidation. These cause disease.

But because breathing, or oxidation, is an essential life-giving process, we need to maintain delicate balances when mopping up the harmful by-products called anti-oxidants.

This BALANCING ACT is apparently easier to achieve by eating high quality foods. For an excellent food guide, see Rosie Schwartz’ book:

The Enlightened Eater’s Whole Foods Guide: Harvest the Power of Phyto Foods

Too Much of A Good Thing?

It came as a shock to the scientific community that high dose supplements of beta carotene went hand in hand with a higher risk of developing lung cancer in those at risk for the disease.

Also, a study out of the University of California at Berkeley showed that while flavonoids in foods may act as cancer-fighters, high levels could lead to cancer-causing changes to chromosomes.

Researchers also report that the body’s antioxidant capacity seems to level off at about ten to twelve fruit and vegetable servings a day.

Creating a “Balanced Portfolio”

In fact, there is little evidence that one antioxidant is better than another.

Professor John Erdman Jr, at the University of Illinois was cited as saying that healthy diets are like healthy investment portfolios – diversified – and that that eating a variety of produce and whole grains ensures the best mix of all nutrients.

Pills as Supplements Not As Good as Food

Researchers tested two groups of people, and measured them for oxidation damage, antioxidant nutrients and defense systems after 25 days. Everyone ate the same basic diet, but the one got about six servings of fruits and vegetables a day, while the other got a vitamin and mineral supplement.

• The group that ate vegetables and fruits showed significantly less oxidation damage than the others, and only that group showed an increased level of an enzyme system that is vital for antioxidant defense.

• The group that took supplements also showed a reduction in oxidation damage, but not as much.

• And, when the amount of fruits and vegetables was doubled, from five fruits and vegetables a day to ten servings a day, the results were even more pronounced, so that participants' antioxidant intake and capacity measured by blood tests, increased substantially.

Other research shows that this increased effect levels off at about ten to twelve fruit and vegetable servings a day. After that, adding more does not really seem to matter.

Anti Cancer Vitamins and Antioxidants

• selenium, • folic acid,• vitamin B-12,• vitamin D, • chlorophyll, and • antioxidants such as the carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, cryptoxanthin), according to a review of the literature at the National Library of Medicine *

• Best Natural Cancer Cure? *

• New Scientific Bombshell: Vitamin D Prevents Cancer -- All Cancers! *

Veggies, Green Tea, Black Tea and Coffee

To obtain these, you need to eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans. This is a major reason why supplements can’t supply the benefits of a plant-based diet.

A cancer-prevention diet, for instance, includes plenty of:

• Vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach, asparagus

• Fruits: strawberries, kiwi, melon, bananas, apples

• Whole grains: breads, cereal, oatmeal, pasta, rice

• Legumes: beans, peas, lentils

Spices and herbs add even more.

And, don’t forget to have a sip of tea – green tea, black tea and even coffee has plenty of antioxidants!

Unfortunately for those who prefer black tea to green tea, researchers found that if you add milk to black tea, the antioxidant effect mysteriously disappeared.

But any kind of clear tea is full of antioxidants!

Biggest Bang for the Bite

Why? Slowly but surely, the evidence is mounting. For instance, The European Journal of Nutrition recently reported findings showing that organic red oranges have:

1) a higher phytochemical content (i. e., phenolics, anthocyanins and ascorbic acid),

2) a higher total antioxidant activity, AND

3) higher bioactivity, than nonorganic red oranges.

These researchers concluded that organic red oranges have a higher protective effect against oxidative damage at the cellular level, than do nonorganic red oranges.

Antioxidant Effect of Organically Grown Oranges

Food v.s. Pills: The Master Antioxidant

• People who are ill have been found to have low glutathione, while those who are healthy have higher levels.

Improving glutathione levels also helps healthy people strengthen their immune response and their ability to ward off toxins and illness.

However, enhancing the body's glutathione levels does NOT work by taking glutathione pills, because glutathione is digested, and does not get into the cells where it is needed. Even intravenous glutathione is not ideal for a steady supply.

• Glutathione becomes depleted with age, stress and illness -- it can best be enhanced by providing the proper nutritional pre-cursors.

• Taking dietary supplements to improve your glutathione levels is a must if you are ill, are an athlete or if you are over the age of 50.

For FREE E-BOOK, see:

What Doctors say about raising glutathione as a NATURAL solution to chronic illnesses

Recommendations for Best Health Food Supplements:

Antioxidant Supplement Confusion: Lutein

High doses of beta carotene supplements, for instance, may have varying effects depending on a person’s intake of other antioxidants:

HIGH DOSES of the supplement seems to DECREASE the absorption of LUTEIN, the yellow pigment or carotenoid associated with a reduced risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

But in food, carotenoids enhance each other, so that the LUTEIN found in produce like:

• dark leafy greens• avocados and • kiwis, is a more powerful defender against disease when consumed with lycopene-rich foods like tomatoes.

Food v.s. Pills: Quercetin

There have been an abundance of studies showing quercetin-rich foods like: • apples, • onions • red wine • broccoli and • tea to have a PROTECTIVE effect against Heart Disease and some forms of cancer.

BUT when quercetin is taken out of its food environment, it may behave differently.

Quercetin, when taken on its own, was found to act as a PRO-oxidant instead of an ANTI-oxidant in an animal study published in the may 2005 issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology.

The PRO-oxidant effect did not occur when it was taken in food, particularly with the flavonoid daidzain, which comes from soy.

Numerous scientific investigations have pointed in a similar direction and show that the various phytochemical combinations in foods offer a powerful antioxidant arsenal.

But take one of these out on its own, and it may not just be an ineffective weapon, but it may also join forces with the enemy, possibly boosting the risk for disease.

Shedding Light on the Antioxidant Vitamin E Confusion

• The reason that research has shown mixed results with Vitamin E has to do with the biochemical nature of vitamin E.

• First of all, the synthetic vitamin E is different from the natural vitamin E, and, to add to the confusion, the NATURAL one is actually a family of 8 related compounds (the tocopherol group and the tocotrienol group), each with alpha, beta, gamma and delta types.

• EACH of the 8 DIFFERENT natural VITAMIN E GROUPS has a unique function and may contribute an important function such as having a • anti-inflammatory • cardio protective or an • anticancer effect.

Therefore, supplementing with all of these is better than just alpha-tocopherol alone:

• Gamma-TOCOPHEROL, for instance, has the ability to protect against chronic inflammation, including cancer, heart disease and degenerative brain disorders such as Azheimers disease, which Alpha-TOCOPHEROL cannot do.

Researchers at Purdue University also found that gamma-tocopherols induce death in human prostate cancer cells and lung cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

• Research involving TOCOTRIENOLS has shown their ability to reverse atherosclerotic blockages in the carotid artery, significantly reducing risk of strokes.

• Research reporting negative results for vitamin E supplements combined dissimilar studies and pooled data on mixed dosages, and natural and synthetic forms of vitamin E.

• NATURAL vitamin E, labelled as d-alpha-tocopherol, has greater biological activity than synthetic E (dl-alpha-tocopherol). Supplements containing a wide variety of vitamin E are: "MIXED TOCOPHEROLS" or "MIXED TOCOTRIENOLS."

Vitamin E Reduces Child Asthma Risk

At the five-year follow-up, children whose mothers consumed the highest levels of vitamin E during pregnancy had significantly better lung function. (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, Sept. 2006)

• Despite the controversy, it is clear that people who eat a wide variety of colorful vegetables and fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds, healthy oils and lean proteins enjoy better health than those who don't.

You Be the Judge

In the end, can you really compare a handful of pills to munching an apple or grabbing a banana on the run?

Maybe we are missing “the spice of life” if we can’t stop to get or to make, say, a wrap with chicken, diced tomatoes, avocado, sprouts and chopped cilantro with a delicious spicy sauce, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Here’s to your health!

Recent Health Discoveries Why Health Food's Best: Vitamin E, Antioxidants in Foods Fight Disease, Heart Disease, cancer, Parkinsons Disease, Macular Degeneration, MD, Alzheimers Disease

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