Category Archives: vitamin e

Use Vitamin E in Foods and Skincare: Glowing Skin

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vitamin e foodsBy Jacqueline Reilly

The famous vitamin E is renowned for combating aging by keeping joint degeneration at bay and increasing eye and heart health. What is not so well known is that vitamin E can help aging skin to retain its smoothness, moisture and beauty.

Research from the World Congress of Public Health and Nutrition reports that more than 90% of Americans fall below the daily recommended amount of vitamin E.  The recommended daily allowances are provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and for vitamin E it’s 15 milligrams per day.

The secret to vitamin E’s importance for both internal health and external beauty is similar to that of the other antioxidant vitamins (A and C) — their ability to undo the “free radical” damage that causes skin to develop lines and lose elasticity and firmness.

Free radicals are damaging molecules that come from a reaction of oxygen inside the body.  They come from pollution, smoke, medications, infection, stress, toxic chemicals, a poor diet, and also as a byproduct of normal digestion and metabolism.

“Anti-oxidants (or anti oxygen substances) such as vitamins E, C and A can help to defend the body against free radical damage and repair it.  These nutrients can assist to create skin that is firm and luminous, and incorporating both nutritional and topical approaches can be of benefit.

Topical Vitamin E in Dermatology

Vitamin E is a popular skin treatment because of its ability to stop reactive oxygen molecules from altering the formation of collagen.  Collagen is the main protein in connective tissue, bone and other key tissues in the body.  Vitamin E also maintains the elasticity in cellular spaces that provide the balance necessary to preserve skin moisture.

A dramatic example of vitamin E’s effectiveness for skin health comes from a study done at Ohio State University.  Scientists there found that one particular form of Vitamin E called ‘tocotrienol’ could significantly reduce the amount of damage caused by burns. They concluded that “This model (research) shows that if the level of tocotrienol in the skin is increased five-fold within the first six to twelve hours after a burn, subsequent burn damage will be reduced by at least 50 percent.”

Topical Vitamins Can Boost Beautiful Skin

In addition to Vitamin E, Vitamins C and A are also used in modern skincare to boost skin health and smoothness. In fact, all three vitamins work together to promote the production of collagen. As noted by Leslie Kenton in her best-selling book “The Skin Revolution”, Vitamin C is essential and plays an important role in a transformation in your skin cells, taking up the important amino acid, proline, and using it to make new collagen.”

Does Diet Matter?

What a person eats can have a great affect on their skin’s appearance.  It is important to consume an antioxidant-rich diet to ensure the cells are well guarded against the ravaging effects of free radicals. Avoid refined ingredients such as white flour and sugar, which cause the collagen fibers (which should be present in tidy bundles) to tangle and become crossed up.  The result can be lines, wrinkles and aging skin.

A diet featuring quality proteins like fish and grass-fed meats, seasonal vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats such as olive oil, is recommended for its richness in the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E. 

Boosting Your Vitamin E Intake

Foods which contain good amounts of Vitamin E include nuts, seeds, avocado, leafy green vegetables, broccoli, butternut squash, olive oil, trout and kiwi fruit. Try if possible to buy organic fruits and vegetables, since recent studies have shown they contain significantly higher levels of antioxidants than conventionally grown produce. They also contain less heavy metals, and since they are pesticide-free, they help reduce the skin’s toxic burden.

Vitamin E can be a great part of one’s skincare routine, and there are an abundance of skincare products in natural food stores that contain this fat-soluble powerhouse.

Combine a nutritional approach with a daily skincare routine, to give the skin all the nutrients it needs to glow from within. If a person has very sensitive skin, it’s possible that topical vitamins in skincare products can be an irritant.  In this case, test a small amount of any product and wait several hours before using it liberally.  For all the beautifying benefits it provides, be sure to add vitamin E-rich foods to your diet.

This natural health news is provided by Nutrition Breakthroughs, a publisher of nutrition articles and supplier of natural remedies since 2002. Nutrition Breakthroughs makes Sleep Minerals II, the effective natural sleep aid with calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin D, and also Joints and More, the natural solution for joint relief, arthritis, aches and pains, stronger hair and nails and more energy.

Vitamin E Protects Muscles, Remedies Hot Flashes

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This health news is provided by Nutrition Breakthroughs, maker of the effective calcium and magnesium based sleep aid Sleep Minerals II
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A study from the journal “Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity” (see definition for “oxidative” below), has demonstrated that vitamin E can prevent and treat the loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs as people age.

Regarding the word “oxidative”, this refers to the process in our bodies where we process the oxygen we breathe in and our cells produce energy from it.  This process can become imbalanced and create a state of “oxidative stress” if we don’t consume enough “anti” oxidants such as vitamins E, C and A.

Vitamin E was also shown in recent research from “Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation” to be a natural alternative to estrogen therapy and an effective remedy for hot flashes and night sweats.

Besides the body’s own natural digestion and metabolism functions, other sources of oxidative stress can include pollution, medications or drugs, smoking, infection, stress, toxins or a poor diet.

The researchers from the journal of “Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity” explain that a reduced level of vitamin E or a deficiency in the body is associated with an increased risk of muscle atrophy (shrinkage).

The vitamin can prevent muscle damage and encourage muscle regeneration.  Muscles in the body are particularly susceptible to oxidative damage as these are the site of the highest consumption of oxygen. Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin that greatly boosts cellular antioxidant capacity.

Because of this, vitamin E can be beneficial for preventing the effects of aging and for also treating infections, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and neurological disorders.

While vitamin E is famous for the health benefits it provides to glands, organs and the heart, it may not be generally known that vitamin E is a proven remedy for menopausal hot flashes and night sweats.

A hot flash, also called a hot flush, is a sudden unexpected feeling of warmth and often a breakout of sweat in the upper half of the body.

These flashes occur with up to 80% of women around the time of menopause, and men can also have them due to a lessening of testosterone at middle age.  A night sweat is a “hot flash” that occurs in the night, often while one is sleeping, and can cause frequent awakenings.

Vitamin E was shown to be a natural alternative to estrogen therapy and an effective remedy for hot flashes. The researchers found there were significant statistical differences in the hot flash severity score after women took a 400 IU vitamin E (softgel cap) daily for 4 weeks.  They concluded that based on the trial, vitamin E brings relief and is a recommended hot flash treatment.

Adelle Davis, the first nutritionist to base her recommendations on science-based studies, says: “During the menopause the need for vitamin E soars ten to fifty times over that previously required. Hot flashes and night sweats often disappear when 50 to 500 units of vitamin E are taken daily, but they quickly recur should the vitamin be stopped.”

Calcium is also directly related to night sweats and our cycles of sleep.  In one study published in the European Neurology Journal, researchers found that calcium levels in the body are higher during some of the deepest levels of sleep, such as the rapid eye movement (REM) phase.

The study concluded that disturbances in sleep, especially the absence of REM deep sleep or disturbed REM sleep, are related to a calcium deficiency.  Restoration to the normal course of sleep was achieved following the normalization of the blood calcium level.

Regarding the need for calcium need at the time of menopause Davis says: “During the menopause, the lack of the ovarian hormones (estrogen and progesterone) causes severe calcium deficiency symptoms to occur.”

“At these times, high amounts of calcium should be obtained and every step be taken to insure its absorption into the blood. When these precautions are taken and the diet is adequate in other respects, the woman at menopause usually loses her irritability, hot flashes, night sweats, leg cramps, insomnia, and mental depression.”

One supplement that contains highly absorbable forms of calcium and magnesium is Sleep Minerals II from Nutrition Breakthroughs.  It is a proven remedy for sleeplessness and insomnia, as well as for heart health, restless leg syndrome, bone strength, menopause insomnia, hot flashes, night sweats, and teenage insomnia.

Sleep Minerals II also contains vitamin D and zinc and is delivered in a softgel form mixed with natural rice bran oil, making it better assimilated than tablets or capsules and providing a deeper, longer-lasting sleep.

Anita L. of New Caney, Texas says: “I was having hot flashes every 30 minutes to an hour through the night and was so miserable. After about two weeks of taking the Sleep Minerals, I noticed an incredible difference with my sleep. I have much less interruption from flashes, I’m sleeping much better and I’m a lot more comfortable.”

This natural health news is provided by Nutrition Breakthroughs, a publisher of nutrition articles and supplier of natural remedies since 2002. For more information on Sleep Minerals II, visit the Sleep Minerals II page.