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by W. H. Leong |
 cientists identified vitamin E about 80 years ago
but only in the past few decades has its power as an
antioxidant been revealed and fully appreciated.
Vitamin E is a generic term describing a group of
compounds called tocopherols and tocotrienols.
Until recently, most vitamin E products contained
only tocopherols (alpha-, beta-, gamma- and deltatocopherol).
But this is changing as researchers also
have identified unique health properties of
tocotrienols (alpha-, beta-, gamma- and deltatocotrienol).
Tocotrienols may be the most powerful
of the vitamin E antioxidants.
Several studies have shown that vitamin E
improves the immune system, especially in the
elderly. With age, the immune system becomes
less efficient at fighting off microbes and viruses.
Part of this decline may be due to low levels of
vitamin E in the bloodstream. Some studies have
shown improved immune responses in older people
who take vitamin E supplements. Vitamin E
may also slow the effects of aging by protecting
cells from free radical damage.
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
intervention study at Tufts University and
published in the Journal of American Medical
Association, daily supplementation with vitamin E
enhances immunity in healthy elderly subjects.
The antioxidant vitamin E inhibits prostaglandin
E2 production and significantly improves certain
clinically relevant in vivo indexes of cell-mediated
immune response. Subjects who supplemented
vitamin E antioxidant at 200 mg/day had a 65 percent
increase in delayed-type hypersensitivity skin
response (DTH) and a significant increase in the
amount of antibody made in response to hepatitis
B and tetanus vaccine compared with placebo.
Elderly people can bolster their resistance to
infection by taking daily vitamin E supplements.
To realize vitamin E’s full health benefits in
enhancing the immune system one really needs
both tocopherols and tocotrienols—“The
Vitamin E Complex”—as the most complete and
balanced vitamin E formula. Visit Web sites:
www.carotech.net and www.tocotrienol.org
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