Benefits Of Vitamin E

Vitamin E is the collective name for a group of fat-soluble compounds found in many foods such as almonds, spinach, sweet potato, avocado, wheat germ and sunflower seeds. Vitamin E is also available as a dietary supplement.  In the body, it acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals.

Free radicals are highly reactive substances formed when our bodies convert the food we eat into energy and from exposure to environmental factors like cigarette smoke and ultraviolet light. Free radicals cause cellular damage by attacking the body’s  cell membranes, proteins, and DNA. Scientists say every cell in your body is bombarded daily by up to a million DNA assaults that can damage the cell’s genetic code and create “a typo” that compromises the cell’s function and causes cellular aging which Increases the risk of cancer.

Vitamin E works with other antioxidants such as Vitamin C and selenium to help protect the body from damage caused by these free radicals. Vitamin E is one of the most important antioxidant vitamins. People who take 400 to 800 IU of Vitamin E daily are far less likely to experience premature aging of the arteries and the immune system.  But does the form of Vitamin E make a difference?  Yes, it does.

There are three types of Vitamin E supplements on the market.

• Synthetic Vitamin E (dl alpha tocopherols) is made from petroleum chemicals and block the effects of natural Vitamin E in your food.
• Natural source isolates Vitamin E (d alpha tocopherols) where some of the tocopherols are missing. These are poorly absorbed and units not absorbed become toxic to the body.
• Whole food Vitamin E (d alpha tocopherols, mixed tocopherols, and tocotrienols) include all units found in nature and is best absorbed. Contains all eight members of the Vitamin E family. The label needs to read “d-alpha tocopherol concentrate and mixed tocopherols concentrate.” This means it contains the whole Vitamin E family.

If a Vitamin E supplement label reads d-alpha-tocopherol, you’re getting the real thing. If it’s synthetic,  the label will read dl-alpha-tocopherol  so the “dl” could be interpreted as meaning “delivers less.”

Optimal levels of Vitamin E are essential to protect cell membranes and tissues, including the DNA, from oxidation. All aging and many disease processes are associated with altered or abnormal cell membrane structure. Therefore, maintaining healthful function in these membranes can be considered one of the most important aspects of health. Vitamin E slows the aging process of every cell by blocking free radical damage. If free radicals damage the cells, enzymes can’t function and the cell’s energy sources become crippled.

Vitamin E is indispensable for good health, helping to lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Vitamin E is involved in immune function and cell signaling, regulation of gene expression, and other metabolic processes. Vitamin E increases blood flow,  reduces coagulation of blood and reduces the risk of clot formation,  reduces oxidation of LDL cholesterol,  and protects the lungs from pollution damage. Vitamin E protects blood cells, the nervous system, and skeletal muscles, and it may help prevent cataracts.

Optimal Vitamin E during pregnancy can reduce the risk of pregnancy complications, including pre-eclampsia  (high blood pressure)and reduce damaged cells in the developing fetus.

Athletes need a lot more of all antioxidants, including E, because exercise produces more free radicals. Vitamin E can ease aches and pains and shorten the duration of muscle soreness following exercise. There are so many benefits of Vitamin E and these are just some highlights.

Protect your cells and live longer, healthier!

To your health,

Charlene

Features of Whole Food, Nutrient Dense Concentrated Alive Vitamins

Which Vitamins to Buy?

When it comes to choosing which vitamins to take, it is pretty confusing out there. Our first choice is where we buy our vitamins. We can go to the drug store, the health food store, buying clubs like Costco or through direct sales/internet where they are delivered to our homes. After we make that choice, there are dozens of the same type of vitamins to choose from. What criteria should we use? Most people think price. But when it comes to quality, the price is not the standard to go by.

Most people do not realize that there are three main ways of manufacturing vitamins on the market. So to the untrained eye, these vitamins all look the same except for the price point. So here are some pointers to help you choose more wisely.

Typically if you are shopping in a drug store or some buying clubs, you are going to find the synthetic type (test tube type) of vitamins.

Features of Synthetic Vitamins:

• Use man-made, inorganic substances, chemically derived, often petroleum-based products.
• Often contain sugar & unnatural flavours, colours, fillers, binders, preservatives, sweeteners
• Chemical, high-heat or high-pressure processing destroys active ingredients & enzymes
• Very poor dissolve-ability
• Very poor bio-availability
• Do not build long-term health
• May act as a stimulant (temporarily feel ‘better’)
• May have negative side effects in some people
• Unrecognized by body, not found in nature, ‘unnatural’ to self
• When vitamins are made synthetically, it costs very little and that is passed along to the consumer. But when you think about it, are you really saving money when the money you just spent is not being utilized in your body? To me that is a waste of money.

If you are shopping in a typical health food store and some direct sales companies, you are going to find natural isolates using the extraction method.

Features of Extracted Vitamins:

• Isolated nutrient; no co-factors present; poorly balanced formula
• ‘Natural’ sourced – only a small portion must be natural, according to government labeling regulations
• May contain questionable fillers, binders, etc.
• Processing methods questionable; active ingredients & enzymes often destroyed
• Often poor dissolve-ability
• Often poor to fair bio-availability
• Better than synthetics, but do not build true long-term health
• Portions recognizable by the body but have to steal co-factors from your body for true absorption; so gives to you and steals from you.
• When you are buying the extracted version, it is a toss-up whether you are getting ahead or not as it depends on how much your body needs to “spend” in order to get the extracted vitamin metabolized. So the potential for losing money is there if your body does not have adequate stores of nutrients to help with the processing of the extracted version.

If you are shopping for some direct sales companies or getting your vitamins from a practitioner of some kind, then you are probably getting whole food, nutrient dense concentrates.

Features of Whole Food, Nutrient Dense Concentrates (Alive Vitamins):

• Nature’s balance; high potency; nature’s co-factors present
• High quality, pure, organically sourced raw materials
• Low heat or no heat, low-pressure processing ensures active ingredients and high enzymatic activity
• No harsh binders, fillers
• No refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colours, flavours
• Ideal, effective dissolve-ability, available when & where needed
• Ideal, effective bio-availability, easily utilized by cells
• Body recognizes as ‘belonging to self’ or ‘natural’, highly usable
• Builds long-term health by supporting body’s innate wisdom

When you compare whole food concentrates with real food, you see that you save money while being nourished. For example, one of my Vitamin C tablets costs me 22 cents and it is equal to my buying 7 and a half oranges. My body feels the difference when I nourish it properly which is my biggest saving. Since the food values have decreased due to food becoming a business and the soils being depleted, my body loves the whole food nutrient dense concentrates to supplement what I am missing from my diet.

Bottom line; when it comes to choosing your vitamins, you get what you pay for. If you are interested in exploring this further, I have a list of scientific questions that will help you confirm whether or not you are getting your money’s worth when buying vitamins. Contact me by emailing Charlene@CharleneDay.com and I will send you this list.

I’d love to hear from you or answer any questions.

To your good health!

Charlene Day