Vitamin E Helps Protect Brain

Antioxidants. Americans love them. They protect your body from the damage it endures in everyday life. Cigarette smoke, air pollution, and ultraviolet sunlight all expose you to free radicals, which damage your cells. But antioxidants in the bloodstream protect against that damage. Blueberries, dark chocolate and kale are full of them.

Though slightly lower-profile, vitamin E is an antioxidant, too. Besides neutralizing harmful free radicals — the byproducts in your body of exposure to harmful things in the world around you — E pumps up the immune system to help it fight off sickness. What’s more, it widens blood vessels to ease blood flow. Vitamin E also facilitates numerous interactions between cells that make your body function. In short, your body can’t run without it.

You get a lot of vitamin E from vegetable oils, such as sunflower and safflower. Peanuts, walnuts and especially almonds pack an E-filled punch, as well. Green vegetables, including spinach and broccoli, come with some vitamin E. As if those weren’t enough, food manufacturers add the antioxidant to cereals, fruit juices, margarine and other spreads.

Most people get enough vitamin E from their diet. Deficiency is rare. When it happens, it’s usually a result of a health condition that prevents the body from absorbing fat, such as Crohn’s disease or cystic fibrosis. Your body needs fat to properly absorb vitamin E.

Studies have shown that people who get a lot of vitamin E in their diet have a lower risk of developing dementia and also preserve their thinking skills as they age. But not all studies manage to replicate those results. What’s more, supplements don’t seem to offer the same benefits to the brain. The nutrient has to come from food, according to the Global Council on Brain Health’s report on supplements and brain health. The group of scientists, health care providers and other experts reviewed the evidence for possible brain benefits of vitamin E supplements.

The supplements may, however, have minimal benefits in people who already have Alzheimer’s disease. In a clinical trial that included subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, the ones who took 2,000 IU of vitamin E every day continued to carry out their daily activities, such as eating and getting dressed, without help for longer than the others. But the supplement didn’t seem to preserve memory, reasoning and other thinking skills. Scientists say more research needs to be done in this area to confirm the results.

Still it’s unclear whether a little extra vitamin E would bring any brain benefits to healthy people who already get enough of the vitamin on their plates. And it is possible to get too much of the stuff. A few studies show that vitamin E, especially high doses or in people who are already in bad health, can increase risk of death. Too much E from supplements can also raise your risk for bleeding in the brain. When you’re taking the blood thinner warfarin (Coumadin), the risk of dangerous bleeds increases. Taken daily, the supplements may raise risk for prostate cancer, too. To stay safe, don’t go over the recommended limit of 1,500 IU per day for supplements made from the natural form of vitamin E or 1,100 IU per day for supplements made from synthetic vitamin E.

The council acknowledges that vitamin E supplements may offer minimal benefits for people who have Alzheimer’s, but evidence is lacking to suggest that supplements could help preserve healthy people’s thinking skills as they age.