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Vitamin E

The history of the discovery

While vitamin D is called "calcium carrying", the vitamin E or tocopherol - means "bearing progeny". Indeed, in 1922, it was established that rats need special nutritional factors for normal pregnancy and the ability to give birth to a full-fledged offspring and the lack of this factor leads to miscarriages or birth of dead pups. Females who spent lot of time on a diet devoid of this factor, later called vitamin E, are infertile. E- avitaminosis males produce defective sperm which is incapable of fertilization, and eventually the whole production of sex cells stops. Adding of vegetable oil, wheat and green vegetables to the food, was quickly curing animals from infertility.

Name of "vitamin E" means "family" of four compounds called tocopherols, which are related through their chemical structure and biological activity. The most common and active one is alpha-tocopherol.

What does vitamin E do?

Vitamin E - is the most important bioantioxidant which protects cells and tissues from damage by free radicals, which are produced by toxins and oxidised (acid) fats.

The term “bioantioxidants” in recent years have become much more common in scientific and popular literature, so complex preparations and products containing these valuable natural substances, regular consumption of which, according to many experts, is able to significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other diseases and prolong active life can often be seen in pharmacies.

So, what are these substances, what is their role and what are the related expectations based on? Life is not possible without oxygen. But oxygen is not only a powerful and irreplaceable friend, but also a dangerous and insidious enemy! Oxygen, or more precisely, its active forms possess an extremely high oxidation potential. Having a free, "unpaired" electron on an outer orbit, they easily take away the missing electron from the other compounds. The latter, in turn, giving one electron away, turn into highly free radicals and the entire process becomes uncontrollable.

Nearly all of the substances in an organism are highly sensitive to oxidizing. Oxygen “attacks” are particularly dangerous for the unsaturated lipids (fats) that are parts of cell membranes and intracellular barriers, the so-called biological membranes, the damages of which are harmful to the cell. Such attacks are no less dangerous to genetic material, the damage of which can lead to the emergence of harmful mutations, hereditary defects and cancer.

In the course of millions of years of evolution, the nature has created a biological oxidation system for the controlled usage of oxidation processes and the so-called antioxidant system - to protect the living structures of the body from the damaging effects of the active oxygen species.

Like any other defense system, the antioxidant system, consists of several "lanes" of protection.

The first line are small mobile molecules of bio antioxidants. These, along with tocopherols, include carotenoids, the most important of which are beta-carotene and lycopene, as well as vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. Bioflavonoids of numerous plants, united by a common name for vitamin R, also carry various bio antioxidant attributes.

These natural substances have the ability to easily interact with free radical, reactive oxygen species, depriving the latter of a dangerous activity, for which they have been called a "trap" for free radicals or "garbage collectors".

Therefore the insufficient intake of bio antioxidants is so dangerous to human health.

Where can it be found?

The best source of it are vegetable oils, it is also contained in the bread from wheat flour, in buckwheat, in green.

How much vitamin E do you need?

The daily requirement of vitamin E is about 12 mg (for tocopherol)

Lack and excess of the vitamin E.

The negative effects of vitamin E excess are very rare and mostly just result in high blood pressure. This vitamin is not toxic. The lack of it enhances the susceptibility to the harmful effects of free radicals from the environment and from the food.

Vitamin E is found in the following medicines:

Vitamin E is found in the following dietary supplements: