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Facts and Fiction About Vitamin E >From the Harvard Medical School's publication _Harvard Health Letter_ (vol 22 No.1, November, 1996) comes a three page article entitled "Facts and Fiction About Vitamin E." Because of the many discussions we have had on this list about vitamins and because vitamin E is an important antioxidant, I thought I would post some quotes from the article (typos and spelling errors are mine). "The list of claims for vitamin E is so long that it seems like nothing short of a miracle drug. Some researchers say the supplements can prevent or slow heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cancer, improve athletic performance, and increase longevity. Thus it is no surprise that supplement sales have increased 10% annually in recent years. Determining which claims are reliable and which are snake-oil promises can be a formidable task, since in most cases there is not yet enough evidence to tell the difference. Indeed many of these assertions contain a bit of truth and a dash of hype." "Although no one knows the amount of E needed for optimal health, the Food and Drug Administration decided in 1994 that 30 IU should be listed on food and vitamin labels as desirable for everyone." (IU = International Units) The article goes on to discuss the uses of vitamin E in heart disease, aging, cataracts, diabetes, and cancer prevention. Regarding neurological diseases the Harvard article states: "Neuroscience researchers had good reason to hope that vitamin E might offer protection against Parkinson's disease. In laboratory experiments, free radicals damage the brain cells that produce dopamine, the chemical that is depleted in people with Parkinson's. But when researchers in a multi-center trial gave 800 Parkinson's patients 2,000 IU of vitamin E daily for an average of 14 months, they were disappointed to find no benefit. Nor have other studies shown a connection between blood levels of vitamin E and Parkinson's disease." Preachingly the author declares in the last paragraph of this nutrition article: "Even though the majority of evidence for vitamin E's role in disease prevention is preliminary, consumers aren't holding their breath for confirmation -- mainly because popping a pill is easier than eating lots of fruits and vegetables, cutting down on fat, quitting smoking, or staying out of the sun. Although there is probably no harm in taking vitamin E, scientists already know that 'a healthy lifestyle gives people a larger benefit than taking supplements,' said Harvard's Dr. Hennekens." -------------------- Sid Roberts 66/dx2 [log in to unmask] Youngstown, Ohio