Vitamin E supplements and health outcomes in people
What it found
Large, prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled trials in people did not support taking vitamin E supplements for health benefits against diseases linked to oxidative damage, especially heart disease.
The authors say the disappointing results may be because vitamin E does more in the body than just act as an antioxidant.
What they found
Studies in people
Clinical trial results
Recent large, prospective, randomised and placebo-controlled clinical studies in people did not encourage the use of vitamin E supplements. The overall results were disappointing.
Studies in people and animals
Discovery and deficiency
Vitamin E refers to a family of tocopherol and tocotrienol isomers discovered in 1922 as an anti-infertility factor. Deficiency causes infertility and delayed-onset ataxia in experimental animals, and leads to neuronal dysfunctions in humans.
Other findings
Antioxidant belief
Based largely on its radical-scavenging antioxidant activity in lab tests, vitamin E supplements are commonly thought to provide health benefits against diseases associated with oxidative damage, most notably cardiovascular diseases.
Possible other functions
Scientific data suggest that in the body vitamin E may have functions other than, or in addition to, acting as an antioxidant. This could help explain the disappointing trial results.
What the authors conclude
“Contrary to this belief, the outcome of recent large, prospective, randomized and placebo-controlled clinical studies does not encourage the use of vitamin E supplements.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the overall disappointing results do not encourage the use of vitamin E supplements.
- They explain these results by critically testing the strengths of evidence for many of the underlying assumptions.
- They examine the possibility that in vivo vitamin E may have function(s) other than, or in addition to, acting as an antioxidant.
How it was done
Vitamin E was discovered in 1922 as an anti-infertility factor. Because it acts as a radical-scavenging antioxidant in lab tests, vitamin E supplements are commonly thought to provide health benefits against diseases associated with oxidative damage, most notably cardiovascular diseases.
The authors reviewed scientific data that critically tested the strengths of evidence for many of the underlying assumptions about vitamin E. They also examined the possibility that in the body vitamin E may have functions other than, or in addition to, acting as an antioxidant.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This is a review of existing studies, not a new experiment.
- It cannot show what would happen if people took vitamin E supplements in a different way or dose.
- It cannot prove that vitamin E supplements cause any specific outcome in people.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of New South Wales, Australia
The paper
- Title
- Vitamin E
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Stocker R (2007). Vitamin E. Novartis Foundation symposium. doi:10.1002/9780470319444.ch6PubMed 17913225DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error