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News
A recent study carried out at the University of Texas concluded that natural source vitamin E can help to reduce the risk of developing some of the complications associated with Type II diabetes.
With good dietary control People with Type II or non-insulin dependent diabetes can usually control the disease. However, the main cause of death among people with non-insulin dependant diabetes are problems like heart attacks and strokes. Inflammation of the blood cells and blood vessels of people with type II diabetes places them at greater risk of these complications.
The study by researchers at the UT South western Medical Centre found that inflammation can be reversed with vitamin E. Doctors at the centre gave daily doses of 1,200 international units of natural vitamin E to diabetics over a three month period. At the end of the period, they found that the vitamin had succeeded in reducing inflammation of blood cells in people with Type II diabetes.
Fighting disease
Dr Ishwarlal Jialal, professor of pathology and internal medicine at the UT South western Medical Centre in Dallas, said the finding could help to fight vascular disease among diabetics. "This is the first study that shows that vitamin E has anti-inflammatory effects on diabetic patients," he said. "It could be a further therapy to prevent vascular complications in diabetes since inflammation seems to be critical as a causative factor in diabetic vascular disease."
Is your Vitamin E natural? (With thanks to http://altmedangel.com/)
Alpha tocopherol is the scientific name for the form of vitamin E that our bodies use. There are other varieties such as beta, gamma, and delta tocopherols (often called "mixed" tocopherols) which exist in nature along with alpha tocopherol. Studies indicate that mixed tocopherols increase the vitamin E activity of D-alpha tocopherol.
Biochemically speaking, vitamin E can be either right or left handed. This is indicated with the letters D and L. The form that exists in our food and the form that our bodies need is the D form: D-alpha tocopherol. The L form does not work in our bodies.
Synthetic vitamin E is not the same as natural vitamin E and has lower biological activity. When vitamin E is made synthetically a mixture of the D and L forms is automatically produced and cannot be separated. This is called DL-alpha tocopherol and, although much less expensive than natural D-alpha tocopherol, is not biologically active. In fact, recent scientific studies have indicated that synthetic vitamin E does not stay in the body nearly as long as natural vitamin E, making it a much less effective protector.
Vitamin E in its "raw" state (D-alpha tocopherol) is in oil form. If it is put into tablets or hard gelatin capsules it must be esterified. That means that a natural carrier must be added, such as acetate or succinate. These esterified forms are written as D-alpha tocopheryl acetate or D-alpha tocopheryl succinate. Since the carrier breaks down when ingested, esterified vitamin E is still considered natural as long as the D is present versus the DL. Look for the Natural Source Vitamin E Association (NSVEA) logo on the label if you want this type of a natural vitamin E.
According to Dr. Bruce West of Health Alert, "all store-bought vitamin E is simply the small antioxidant portion of the whole nutritional complex" so one must not try to solve a vitamin E deficiency with "tocopherols of any type."
According to new research, avocados are the richest fruit source of vitamin E, followed by the kiwi, nectarines, grapes, and then peaches. Avocados are also the best fruit source of lutein, the compound that protects against cataract formation and macular degeneration.
Read more on Vitamin E (But come back afterwards!)
This first link is to the Micronutrient Information Center of the Linus Pauling Institute. It is quite long but very informative regarding vitamin E.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminE/
This next link gives more information about natural source vitamin E.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=111
And finally, more information from a favorite source, Dr Mercola.
http://www.mercola.com/forms/vitamine.htm
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