Vitamin E

Studies in people

• Open question

  Asthma in children³

  In children, vitamin E levels in the blood were the only finding with consistent evidence for asthma or wheeze.

• No harm found

  Heart health⁴

  Large studies in people do not support taking vitamin E supplements to protect against heart disease.

• Benefit

  Memory and thinking in later life⁶

  Vitamin E may slow decline in mild to moderate Alzheimer's, but we don't know if it helps prevent it.

• Benefit

  Memory in older adults⁷

  In older people, vitamin E taken with fish oil and carotenoids for two years meant fewer working memory errors.

• Concern

  Prostate cancer risk⁸

  In a large study of healthy men, taking vitamin E daily was linked to more prostate cancer cases.

• Concern

  Blood pressure risk⁹

  In Chinese adults, both low and high vitamin E intake were linked to more new high blood pressure.

• Benefit

  Cholesterol and gut bacteria¹⁰

  In people, vitamin E lowered LDL cholesterol and increased gut bacteria that make helpful acids.

• Benefit

  Vision and nerve problems¹¹

  In a woman with poor food absorption, vision and numb limbs improved with vitamin E and A supplements.

• Benefit

  Bone thinning in older adults¹²

  In older US adults, eating more vitamin E was linked to a lower chance of osteoporosis.

• Benefit

  Immune response to TB¹⁵

  In people with TB, vitamin E increased antibodies and T-cells but did not change ESR or TLC.

• Concern

  Blood pressure in pregnancy¹⁷

  In women who took vitamin E supplements in early pregnancy, higher doses were linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure.

• Benefit

  Inflammation in dialysis patients¹⁸

  In people on dialysis, taking vitamin E with pomegranate peel extract lowered signs of inflammation.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Immune system and aging²¹

  In animal studies, vitamin E helped keep the immune system working, especially in older animals.

• Benefit

  Cell energy centres in hyperthyroidism²²

  In animals with an overactive thyroid, vitamin E supplements limited the rise in harmful oxygen damage inside their cells' energy centres.

• Benefit

  Stomach and meat fats²³

  In the stomach, vitamin E helped stop meat fats from turning into harmful compounds.

• Benefit

  Male fertility hormones²⁴

  In animal studies, vitamin E raised testosterone and other hormone levels and improved testis tissue harmed by acrylamide.

Study type not stated

• Open question

  How much is too much¹⁹

  Vitamin E is needed in the diet, and experts set a level above which amounts may be too much.

How it’s made and used

• Absorption of food additive²

  Vitamin E TPGS is poorly absorbed and does not act as a Vitamin E source in healthy people.

• Forms the body keeps⁵

  Vitamin E comes in eight forms, but the body mainly keeps and uses alpha-tocopherol.

• Poor diet quality in teens¹³

  Most teens in this study got far less vitamin E than recommended, with cookies and snacks supplying much of it.

• Nutrient levels in first milk¹⁴

  In breastfeeding women, taking vitamin E raised the amount of it in their first milk.

• Multiple sclerosis risk¹⁶

  Vitamin E may matter because it protects vitamin A, and low levels in babies were linked to MS later.

• How the body absorbs it²⁰

  Vitamin E comes in several forms, and the body absorbs alpha-tocopherol best while other tocopherols are absorbed less.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.