Vitamin E,What it Does and Why it is So Important to Get an Adequate Supply

Vitamin E; What it Does? and Why it is So Important to Get an Adequate Supply?

If you want to remain in healthy condition, then you need to be in the habit of eating proper foods. Further to this, you also need to get the proper amount of vitamins and minerals. If for some reason, you are not getting enough of these nutrients, you may require vitamin supplements in order to function at an optimal level. You should not overlook the importance of vitamins. Vitamin E is one of the 13 vitamins which our body absolutely requires so it will be helpful if we understand exactly what it does to our body. Basically, if we know how a particular supplement affects our body from a physiological point of view, we are more likely to take that supplement when it is needed.

A few of the vitamins which are required by our body cells are known as fat soluble and vitamin E falls into this class. Now any fat soluble vitamin will stay in the body for an extended period of time, whereas water soluble vitamins cannot be stored within. Since vitamin E has the ability to be stored within our body, we do not have to consume it every day. In spite of this, we still need to get an adequate supply over the course of time, either from the food we eat or by taking extra supplements.

Vitamin E more than anything else acts as an antioxidant. Antioxidants act as caretakers for the inner workings of our body. More specifically, antioxidants protect our body cells from the damage which would otherwise occur as a result of free radicals. These free radicals originate from toxins or pollution and once they enter our body, they are very unstable and dangerous to our health. Because cells are the building blocks for our organs, it is important to have an adequate supply of the right antioxidants in order to remain in top health. These antioxidants are also known to slow down the aging process. Vitamin E also has another very important function in that it allows the body cells to utilize vitamin K. Since vitamin K helps with blood clotting, this is a very important feature.

Generally speaking if you are eating a healthy diet, you should be getting enough vitamin E from this alone. Some of the foods which contain a lot of vitamin E are: olives, vegetable oil, margarine, corn, wheat germ, asparagus, mixed nuts, spinach and other leafy green vegetables. Make sure that you scrutinize the labels on any packaged or canned foods which you eat: These labels will list the nutritional ingredients contained within. Another name for vitamin E is tocopherol, so keep an eye out for this when you are reading labels.

Having a slight deficiency in E vitamins is usually not that big of a problem, but you will not get the benefits of the antioxidant features. Even taking too much is generally not too problematic as long as it is not for too long of an extended time period. In a few isolated cases, individuals have reported getting headaches from extended overuse of vitamin E. Be cautious if you are using a multi-vitamin supplement as too many of some of the other vitamins can be bad for you over the long term. If you are planning to take some vitamin supplements, you should really check in with your family doctor first and he or she can give you some sound advice on how much you should actually be taking.