The RealAge Diet by Michael F. Roizen

Author:Michael F. Roizen [Roizen, F. Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061957734
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2001-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that works with vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin, as an antioxidant. These two nutrients complement one another because they act in different areas of the cell. Vitamin E concentrates in the cell membrane, which consists of fats. There it protects against oxidant-induced aging in the membrane. Vitamin C, on the other hand, enters the water-rich parts of the interior of the cell to collect free radicals lurking inside the cell. Together, these antioxidants keep your cells healthy inside and out.

Vitamin E gets right to work on artery walls. It helps keep the lousy (LDL) cholesterol in your blood from attaching to your artery walls. This lowers the risk of a heart attack by up to 40 percent in women and up to 35 percent in men. One important study in Great Britain found that vitamin E reduced the risk of heart attack by as much as 75 percent in people who already had arterial disease. Vitamin E also works as a mild blood thinner, making clots less likely to form. These anti-arterial aging effects of vitamin E confer the RealAge benefit.

Some studies have also shown that vitamin E helps protect against certain types of cancer, including prostate and lung cancer. The antioxidant properties of vitamin E may boost the immune system. Although the connection between cancer and vitamin E has not yet been confirmed, the results so far are promising. Thus, vitamin E may lower your RealAge even more than calculated in this book; we don’t have enough data to say for sure.

Finally, vitamin E is good for your eyes. Preliminary research shows that this nutrient may help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts, two common eye diseases.

AM I DEFICIENT? In terms of the RDI or DV, very few adults in the developed world are deficient in vitamin E. On the other hand, virtually everyone who doesn’t take a supplement with vitamin E will not be getting the RAO.

WHAT’S THE RAO? For maximum age reduction, you should take 400 international units (IU) of vitamin ? a day Because it’s fat soluble, your body stores this nutrient until needed. One dose per day is all you need. Supplementation is necessary, since its almost impossible to get enough vitamin ? from food.

So, which is better, natural or synthetic? Vitamin E is the name given to a family of fat-soluble compounds called tocopherols, which come in several forms—alpha, beta, delta, and gamma. Synthetic vitamin E is usually alpha tocopherol, the form that confers many of the important benefits attributed to vitamin E. However, the other forms of tocopherol provide benefits, too, and natural vitamin E (“mixed natural tocopherols”) contains all four forms. One study on animals found that natural vitamin E may be more effective in promoting a young RealAge. As of now, no data from humans indicates that natural vitamin E is preferable to synthetic vitamin E.

See Chart 5.3 for the RealAge effect of getting the RAO daily dose of vitamin E. Also, take your vitamin E with vitamin C.

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