Gillian Martlew, N.D.

IS VITAMIN E REALLY DANGEROUS?

Vitamin E supplements have enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence over the last few decades with no major “side effects” being reported*. So when the November 11, 2004 issue of USA Today headline screamed, “High dose of vitamin E may increase death risk” it certainly got everyone’s attention. It is believed that the report will cause about one in five Americans to stop taking this important vitamin.

Was the report flawed? Did the researchers misinterpret the data? Or are they right?

Whenever a negative report appears about vitamins or minerals I am ALWAYS committed to finding facts…and what I discovered about vitamin E is extremely interesting.

THE STUDY

USA Today’s article was based on an advance electronic publication from the respected medical journal, Annals of Internal Medicine [1]. This study by Miller et al was entitled, “Meta-Analysis: High-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality.”

The Miller et al study evaluated 19 clinical trails on vitamin E that were published between 1966 and 2004, and involved a total of 135,967 participants.

The researchers concluded that doses of vitamin E less than 150 international units (iu) per day appeared to “decrease mortality slightly, but non-significantly”, and that doses greater than 400iu per day “may increase all-cause mortality and should be avoided”.

VITAMIN E—A COMPLEX VITAMIN

Vitamin E is composed of a complex of eight naturally occurring compounds: 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Research has focused primarily on alpha-tocopherol as it was discovered, and believed to be, the most active component of vitamin E.

And therein appears to lie the key to this scare with ‘vitamin E”…the researchers looked at clinical trials that were primarily focused on alpha-tocopherol because the majority of clinical studies have been conducted on this element of the vitamin—and they drew their conclusions from these.

As with any vitamin or mineral complex, if you take large doses of one fraction, without the others, their synergy is disrupted and you may ultimately incur a deficit in the other members of the complex. Vitamin E is no exception.

If you take large doses of alpha-tocopherol long-term without beta, gamma and delta tocopherol you can induce a deficiency, particularly in gamma-tocopherol, because alpha-tocopherol competes with gamma in the liver—and alpha wins.

Some studies suggest that patients with cardiovascular disease or certain cancers have a deficiency of gamma-tocopherol, and a recent study (J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000;92:2018-2023) showed that increased levels of gamma-tocopherol were associated with a significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer.

SAFE VITAMIN E

I have always believed in using foods and nutrients in their ‘complex’ forms. I make this point in great detail in my book, Electrolytes, The Spark Of Life”, and emphasize it in my practice—and in my dispensary.

If you are a patient of my practice you can relax about the vitamin E scare. I use a form of vitamin E that was developed for cardiovascular patients and contains a rare combination of an almost 1:1 mix of alpha to gamma tocopherol, with a good balance of the other naturally occurring vitamin E compounds.

Most health store, drug store and other commercial mutis contain a predominance of alpha-tocopherol. The multis I recommend contain a healthy balance of gamma-tocopherol, and a very potent base of antioxidant vitamins and minerals…and this has a balancing effect on the (safe, low-dose) alpha-tocopherol. If you are using a multi from my Dispensary there is absolutely no cause for worry.

Ingestion of alpha-tocopherol, in isolation, in doses
greater than 400iu in an unsupervised manner for a
long period of time may be detrimental to health.
Dr. Jeffrey Moss, DDS, CNS, CCN.

As a footnote; I have been taking between 400—1200 iu of vitamin E complex since 1976 and I am still alive and kicking! But this scary headline is yet one more reminder that we cannot mess around with nature long-term and expect to be the winner.

For more information on vitamin E check The Dietary Supplement Information Bureau (DSIB) Web site http://www.supplementinfo.org/

*In susceptible people, using large doses, vitamin E can exert a mild hypertensive, blood thinning or anti-clotting effect, and it can potentiate, or decrease the effects of certain medications—but if used under supervision these effects are easily controlled.

REFERENCES

1 Miller EA et al, Meta-analysis: High-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality. Ann Intern Med, 2004. 142 (epub ahead of publication).
2 Dr. Jeffrey Moss, DDS, CNS, CCN, A Perspective on the Vitamin E Controversy, The Moss Nutrition Report, Nov/Dec 2004.
3 Devaraj S and Traber MG, gamma-Tocopherol, the new vitamin E? Am J Clin Nutr, 2003. 77: p. 530-1.
4 Wagner KH et al, Gamma-tocopherol—an underestimated vitamin? Ann Nutr Metab, 2004. 48(3): p. 169-88.
5 Hensley K et al, New perspectives on vitamin E: gamma-tocopherol and carboxyelthylhydroxychroman metabolites on biology and medicine. Free Rad Biol Med, 2004. 36(1): p. 1-15.
6 Friedrich MJ, To “E” or not to “E,” vitamin E’s role in health and disease is the question. JAMA, 2004. 292(6): p. 671-3.
7 Huang HY and Appel LJ, Supplementation of diets with alpha-tocopherol reduces serum concentrations of gamma- and delta-tocopherol in humans. J Nutr, 2003. 133(10): p. 3137-40.
8 Chow CK, Vitamin E, in Biochemical and Physiological Aspects of Human Nutrition, Stipanuk MH, Editor. 2000, W.B. Saunders Co.: Philadelphia. p. 584-598.
9 Liu M et al, Mixed tocopherols inhibit platelet aggregation in humans: potential mechanisms. Am J Clin Nutr, 2003. 77: p. 700-6.
10 Hosomi A et al, Affinity for gamma-tocopherol transfer protein as a determinant of the biological activities of vitamin E analogs. FEBS Letters, 1997. 409: p. 105-108.

Copyright © 2004 Gillian Martlew, ND. May not be reproduced in any form whatsoever or copied or stored in an information retrieval system, or made available on a website without written permission of the author.