In Brief: Vitamin E
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Vitamin E: Dose-response study published in the February issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology finds the "minimum dose" of alpha-tocopherol "needed to significantly decrease the susceptibility of [low-density lipoprotein] to oxidation is 400 IU" per day. Ishwarlal Jialal, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, et al., conducted the study because "much data" have supported that high-dose vitamin E supplementation in humans decreases susceptibility of LDL to oxidation. The researchers hypothesized that the reason why the recent study of Finnish male smokers published last April ("The Tan Sheet" April 18, 1994, pp. 1-6) found no benefit of vitamin E in heart disease was because the dose was 50 IU per day...