Protection for the heart is one of the most important duties of Vitamin E. It wasn’t until a bunch of cows dropped dead from removal of E from their feed that an experimental agricultural station in Minnesota found out the severity of the absence of Vitamin E in the diet. The heart was prone to heart attacks.
How can vitamin E protect the heart? One way is that it dives right in and breaks up clots in the blood that could be carried into veins and arteries causing blockage and oxygen deprivation to the heart. Other vital organs such as the brain could cause the heart to shut down from oxygen starvation caused by clots. Vitamin E is great for healing bruises when taken internally and when you think about it all a bruise is really is a blood clot.
To get the most out of Vitamin E you can’t be skimpy. Women should take about 400 IU a day and Men should take about 600 IU a day. It should be noted that in three days Vitamin E will have diminished and be totally gone from the blood shortly after.
Another protective quality of Vitamin E is looking out for red blood cells. Iron isn’t always at the root of Anemia. Anemia can be caused when the body is lacking Vitamin E. The faster red blood cells die off depend on the amount of Vitamin E in the blood. If you take a blood test and find that you have Anemia take plenty of Iron and be sure to include Vitamin E.
An overdose of vitamin E can be dangerous when a person has Hypertension. A person with high blood pressure can take Vitamin E if they start out with a low dose of 90 IU or less and increase it on the second and third months to about 150 IU. Otherwise, starting off on a large dose can increase high blood pressure. High blood pressure is very serious especially if it stays high for long periods of time. High blood pressure causes strokes and heart attacks. Likewise, Vitamin E can lower high blood pressure when taken in small doses. People with Rheumatic Heart conditions should also be leery of taking large doses of Vitamin E.
There are some things that get in the way of Vitamin E and keep it from working the way it should. Chlorine is a major factor because it’s found in the water we drink. Well, that is if you drink tap water. If you don’t want Chlorine in the water you want to drink put a pitcher of water in the refrigerator without a lid over it. In addition, boiling a pan of water will get rid of Chlorine. Other interference’s are by Estrogen and Synthetic Iron.
Good sources of Vitamin E are raw nuts, wheat germ, beans, greens, and vegetable oils. They are all good choices in helping to lower cholesterol.
Besides what the invaluable Vitamin E does internally, externally it is excellent for treatment of burns and scars. Ointment and creams containing Vitamin E will moisturize the skin and fade skin discoloration.
