Applying the Facts about Vitamin E There are some valid concerns about the use of high-dose vitamin E supplementation:

Never use vitamin E alone. Vitamin E is not a drug but simply a nutrient that we get from our food; however, because of supplementation we are able to get it at levels you cannot obtain from your foods.

There is always the possibility that when you use vitamin E alone, it can become a pro-oxidant and actually cause increased free radical production.

Use optimal levels of all the important nutrients on a regular basis. Vitamin E is the most important antioxidant within the cell membrane; however, it is regenerated (may be used over and over) by vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid. All the studies that look at total antioxidant status, always shows a health benefit. Beta-carotene was once ostracized when a study looked at the use of beta-carotene alone in heavy smokers, and found an increased risk of lung cancer. Follow-up analysis of that same study has now shown that when you looked at total antioxidant (beta-carotene with other antioxidants) there was a significantly decreased risk of cancer.

Always use natural vitamin E (d alphatocopherol). Synthetic vitamin E (dl alphatocopherol) may be harmful. The body does not recognize this mirror image of natural vitamin E and tries to get rid of it. Many of the studies in our medical literature, including several that were reviewed in this meta-analysis, used synthetic vitamin E.

The only difference on your bottle is an “l” following the “d”. Go for the “d” only! (dalpha- tocopherol)

Use 400 to 450 IU of alpha-tocopherol in combination with a complete supplement program for full cellular nutrition. Using just alpha-tocopherol can actually displace other very important vitamin E’s like gamma, delta, and beta-tocopherols. It’s even better to add some additional gamma-tocopherol and tocotrienols to your nutritional supplementation. Several companies are now offering this mixture of vitamin E’s in an additional supplement.

Summing Up

Remember, don’t believe everything you hear in the media! This latest study has been blown way out of proportion and is strictly a statistical manipulation. Unfortunately, it will have an effect on physicians and the market place. Doctors will not take the time to do an in-depth objective evaluation of this study, but it will strengthen their bias against supplements. I know, because I know several physicians that have practiced this way for over 24 years. It truly makes me sad. Their conclusions and claims are bogus and they completely ignore the wealth of studies that show a tremendous health benefit of using high-dose levels of natural vitamin E as part of a full program for cellular nutrition. The overwhelming majority of studies show tremendous health benefits for using supplements for very serious illnesses. These studies show a much greater health benefit than almost all of the drugs studied in these same diseases. When individuals add these optimal, advanced levels of antioxidants to a proactive lifestyle, they decrease their risk of developing the chronic degenerative diseases that were being studied. The other serious fallacy of this meta-analysis is the fact that there is no way you can translate this study of serious ill patients to the general, healthy population. Even the reviewers themselves came to that conclusion. And finally, the number of deaths between the two groups was insignificant. They only found a statistically significant finding when they looked at just a few studies in the more serious ill patients who were receiving higher dose vitamin E.

No doubt, we are going to see more and more studies trying to demonstrate the danger of taking nutritional supplements. It is ironic when you consider that medications are the third leading cause of death in this country. If you don’t believe me, get a copy of my book Death by Prescription and look at the evidence.