John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Vitamins are essential for the growth, maintenance and development of our body.

Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin and plays a critically important role in preventing disease. The richest sources are plant oils, so eating nuts, seeds and plant oils will generally supply the vitamin E we need. Almonds, avocados, sunflower seeds and wheat germ are great sources. The best way to get vitamin E and all antioxidants is by eating a balanced and varied diet and making sure your daily multi is also a complete multi-antioxidant.

Vitamin E is a family of compounds with four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The most active is alpha tocopherol and is the most common form in supplements. Some supplements use inexpensive synthetic vitamin E called dl-tocopherol, while the much most potent natural form is d-alpha tocopherol. I would never choose a supplement with the synthetic form.

Because it is a fat soluble antioxidant it plays an irreplaceable role in protecting fat-rich areas of the body. This includes the outer layer of cells called the cell membrane and also cholesterol in our blood. If free radicals damage the cell membrane this results in the failure of cell functions, as the membrane is responsible for regulating the cell's nutritional needs and to expel waste.

Vitamin E helps to prevent cholesterol from damaging blood vessels, especially heart arteries. LDL cholesterol is made in our liver and then enters our bloodstream and delivered to cells for a variety of functions. As a lipid (fat) based substance it is susceptible to free radical damage. To help prevent this, nature adds, if available, vitamin E to LDL cholesterol to prevent oxidation by free radicals as it passes through our blood vessels. Oxidised LDL is the primary cause of coronary heart disease, so making sure you get optimum levels of vitamin E is extremely important.

While about 20 IU of natural vitamin E will prevent deficiency diseases, the optimum levels are about 5 to 20 times this. You should not need to take this as a separate supplement and most good multi style products should have these higher amounts. I take 400IU daily within my daily multi-vitamin/antioxidant/mineral complex. Remember that all antioxidants are important and work as a team to disarm free radicals before they can harm our bodies. Give me a call if you need help. To join my weekly newsletter go to www.johnarts.co.nz and visit www.abundant.co.nz

John Arts is the founder of Abundant Health. To contact John phone (local) 578 9051 or 0800 423 559.