Do you have a vitamin E deficiency?

Here you can find out how to recognize a vitamin E deficiency and what you can do if you have too little vitamin E.

Vitamins are known as essential nutrients essential for life. If you eat a balanced diet and pay attention to your lifestyle, you are probably sufficiently supplied with most vitamins. But the vitamin E requirement sometimes cannot be covered by diet alone.

How you provide you with sufficient vitamin E and a Recognize vitamin E deficiency, you can find out here.

You'll learn in this post,

• what exactly vitamin E is,
• what your daily needs are,
• what a deficiency of vitamin E causes and how it develops,
• how to prevent a vitamin E deficiency and how to dose the vitamin correctly.
• which foods are particularly rich in vitamin E and

Constantly tired and unfocused? Maybe it lacks vitamin E!

For weeks you can only hard to concentrate, are Sick all the time and when you do sports you immediately go limp?

Or are you constantly irritated and your Skin is dry, cracked and wrinkled?

Maybe you are suffering from vitamin deficiency. Especially a Vitamin E deficiency becomes noticeable in the long term with symptoms such as immune deficiency, muscle weakness, reduced performance, concentration disorders or irritability, skin dryness and digestive disorders.

As an essential nutrient, vitamin E is involved in many processes in your body. However, while you can take vitamin E store in the liverbut your body cannot produce it itself.

Therefore you must Supply vitamin E through the diet. So your diet should include foods rich in vitamin E.

Only your doctor can determine if you are actually deficient in vitamin E!

Vitamin E - what is it?

Vitamin E is not a single chemical substance, but occurs in different forms on. The term vitamin E includes for example 8 different fat-soluble substances.

Some are effective as antioxidants against free radicals, others have exactly the opposite effect. They are divided into two large groups:

• 1. tocotrienols
• 2. tocophenols

Most important for your body Alpha-tocopherol. Yours Liver can store alpha-tocopherol best, because the protein that later transports the vitamin E through your body docks most easily with alpha-tocopherol.

For this reason, and because it is easy to produce artificially, alpha-tocopherol is used in almost all vitamin preparations.

How does vitamin E work in the body?

Vitamin E is mainly present as Antioxidant effective, in that it reduces the protects fat-like parts of the cell membrane from free radicals and thus protects the cell from damage or destruction.

Free radicals are compounds to which a Electron missing. They are "given" this by the antioxidants and thus become stable compounds that hardly react with other molecules.

But if you give it all away, you'll end up with nothing yourself, and antioxidants like vitamin E will be depleted over time if you don't replenish them in time.

Besides being a free radical scavenger, vitamin E is also involved in other processes in your body:

• Promotion of the Protein metabolism
• Function of the Nervous system
• Blood clotting (it prevents platelets from clumping together).
• Strengthening the Immune defense
• Improvement of the Oxygen supply in the tissue
• Control of the gonads

Precisely because of its control function in the gonads, researchers also refer to vitamin E as a Fertility vitamin.

Do women have a higher need for vitamin E?

Actually, women and men have about the same need for vitamin E. You need about 12 mg of vitamin E daily. If you just pregnant your vitamin E requirement is also higher, namely around 13 mg.

Vitamin E contributes to the Formation of the immune system in the baby at. If you want your child later breastfeeding, your daily requirement increases even to 17 mg vitamin E!

Too little vitamin E during pregnancy can mean an increased risk of miscarriage! From a Johns Hopkins University study*. in Baltimore found that about 10% of women suffering from a Alpha-tocopherol deficiency suffered lost their child in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. In contrast, only 5.2% of women with a normal high tocopherol level had a miscarriage!

Since vitamin E is also involved in the control of the gonads, science has been speculating for some time, that too little vitamin E reduces female fertility. However, this has not yet been scientifically proven!

The beauty vitamin E

Vitamin E is also frequently found in cosmetics. It protects against light-induced skin damage and shall be used as "Cell protection vitamin"

• Prevent inflammation,
• slow down skin aging and
• regulate the moisture balance!

In any case, a vitamin E deficiency can dry skin and premature wrinkling (so-called dryness wrinkles) cause.

How does vitamin E deficiency occur?

As an essential nutrient, vitamin E is supplied through food. Your body absorbs the vitamin E through the small intestine and stores it in the liver.

If you don't supply your body with enough vitamin E because of your eating habits, it will initially get the necessary resources from the liver. At some point, however, this store is empty, then over time the Vitamin E deficiency noticeable.

However, until that time comes, an otherwise healthy adult may experience up to ten years last.

Medically there is a Vitamin E deficiency by the way, only when in one liter of blood less than Five milligrams tocopherol are present.

Too little vitamin E due to poor diet?

A nutritional vitamin E deficiency is in the industrialized countries rather rare. You have to eat a very one-sided and unhealthy diet for years.

With a balanced diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish you can easily cover the daily requirement of about 11 to 15 milligrams.

However, vitamin E fat soluble, Therefore, a prerequisite for sufficient vitamin intake from food is that your Fat metabolism works.

Vitamin E deficiency due to metabolic disorders and intestinal diseases

Certain Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract disturb the Fat metabolism and prevent sufficient absorption of vitamin E. These include for example the Short bowel syndrome, in whom, because of an operation or already from birth large parts of the small intestine are missing. So you can only absorb vitamin E to a limited extent.

Also chronic inflammation of the intestine or a Pancreatitis (a chronic inflammation of the pancreas) can lead to a deficiency of vitamin E in the long term. If you suffer from one of these diseases, a regular control of the alpha-tocopherol level by your doctor is necessary to detect a dangerous vitamin E deficiency in time.

Also with Celiac disease the vitamin E absorption is disturbed.

Very rarely is a genetic Vitamin E deficiency, the Familial Isolated Vitamin E deficiency or FIVE for short. Thereby the gene responsible for the metabolism of vitamin E in the liver. is responsible, is defective. The liver can subsequently neither process nor store vitamin E. Even if you consume large amounts of vitamin E in your diet, the vitamin E deficiency will persist because no tocopherol enters the bloodstream. Fortunately, this gene defect is very rare.

How can you tell if you have too little vitamin E?

Vitamin E deficiency shows itself in very multiple symptomsthat also occur in other diseases, which is why it is not always diagnosed right away.

The first signs are problems with digestion and concentration, a drop in performance and chronic fatigue. You have the feeling Losing muscle strength, to unbalanced and very irritable.

Since vitamin E is one of the antioxidants and supports your immune system, you may also suffer from more frequently than usual from infections such as colds, viral infections or gastrointestinal infections.

Later also neurological disorders observed.

Symptoms that indicate a deficiency of vitamin E

• frequent Infections and a weakened immune system
• Poor performance, chronic fatigue
• Irritability
• Decreased mental performance, Memory disorders, lack of concentration
• involuntary muscle tremor (tremor) or impaired coordination of movement (ataxia)
• lower sensitivity on the fingers, toes or skin
• Muscle weakness, Muscle loss
• Retinal diseases
• Skin dryness, wrinkles
• Blood clotting disorder

Have you noticed one or more of these symptoms in yourself, then It is best to talk to your doctor about a possible vitamin E deficiency. This initiates a Laboratory blood test and creates a Nutritional history.
This allows you to quickly determine the tocopherol value and whether you are sufficiently supplied with vitamin E.

Tocopherol is important for cell protection

Even if no serious deficiency symptoms have occurred yet, you should have a not consider prolonged deficiency of vitamin E as harmless.
Vitamin E is one of the most important antioxidants and scavenges cell-damaging free radicals in the body. These destroy the cells and damage the genetic material, which leads to Cancer, heart attack or degenerative diseases of the nerves or brain can lead. Also in the emergence of Alzheimer free radicals are involved.

If your body is not supplied with enough vitamin E, you have a higher risk of developing cancer or Alzheimer's disease, for example, or suffering a heart attack!

How to prevent vitamin E deficiency

A healthy and varied diet protects you very well from vitamin deficiency. The German Society for Nutrition e.V. calls 10 rules for a healthy diet.

Nourish yourself Predominantly vegetable and eat five servings of fruit or vegetables a day! Watch for little salt and try, to avoid sugar to a large extent or at least reduce it. For cereal products, it is best to choose Whole grain products. Balanced nutrition is that simple.

In order to preserve the nutrients and also the vitamin E, select gentle preparation methods. Steaming or short blanching is better than long boiling or deep frying!

Milk and dairy products complement your diet plan. By the way, you can take milk and yogurt daily enjoy

Fish should at least once a week come to your table. Meat you eat better only about 600 grams per week.

These are the foods with the highest vitamin E content:

• Wheat germ oil (185 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Sunflower oil (50 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Safflower oil (48.2 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Rapeseed oil (24.5 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Almonds (26 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Flaxseed* (16 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Wholemeal bread or wholemeal pasta 17 mg vitamin E /100g
• Olive oil (12 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Nuts (10 μg vitamin E /100 g)
• Black salsify (6 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Sweet potato (4.5 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Bell pepper and mango (3 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Muesli from whole wheat or whole oat flakes (3 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Savoy cabbage (2.5 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Currants (2 mg vitamin E /100 g)
• Walnuts (1.3 μg vitamin E /100 g)

By the way have organically produced food basically a higher vitamin E content. The fields are less contaminated with pollutants and less depleted due to lower and more sustainable cultivation!

What happens if you overdose on vitamin E?

You cannot overdose on vitamin E through your diet alone, even if you eat a lot of vitamin E-containing foods. However, if you take vitamin E for a longer period of time without additional vitamin E supplements you can very well overdo it.

Possible symptoms of vitamin E overdose

• heavier and more prolonged bleeding For injuries
• Delayed wound healing
• Dizziness, increased blood pressure
• Headache
• Nausea, Bloating, abdominal cramps and/or diarrhea

Vitamin supplements so you shouldn't just take them because you saw them in the commercials, but rather only after consulting your doctor.

Our conclusion on vitamin E deficiency

Vitamin E has great importance in the body, especially as an antioxidant. You have to take the vitamin with your food. With a balanced diet with many vegetable products, whole grains and vegetable oils you are usually well supplied with vitamin E.

A increased demand exists only for certain diseases, in the Pregnancy or breastfeeding or when you Competitive sports operate.

Then talk to your doctor, whether you should take additional vitamin E and better get a prescription for a suitable preparation.

Other than that, however, you don't have to worry about either an undersupply or an overdose of vitamin E.

*Source: Shamim, A. A., et al, First-trimester plasma tocopherols are associated with risk of miscarriage in rural Bangladesh, Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Feb;101(2), pp. 294 - 301.

To browse further:

• These 17 protein-rich foods are vegan!
• This is my LiveFresh food cure experience!
• Can you freeze a smoothie?

* Advertising & affiliate links: Our website is financed by advertising and affiliate links. As a partner of linked stores (e.g. Amazon) we earn from qualified sales.
Read more