X-Message-Number: 23294
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 20:16:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Study Finds Huge Variability In Vitamin E Absorption

 A new study has found that cereal fortified with vitamin E has a very
high rate of absorption into the bloodstream, whereas pills taken
separately with the same food have inconsistent effects, and taking the
supplements alone is largely useless.

 The research was just published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition by scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State
University.

 The study points the way to more effective methods of taking this
essential vitamin if people wish to supplement their diet, said Maret
Traber, a professor with OSU's Linus Pauling Institute and national
expert on vitamin E who recently served on federal panels to update the
RDA for this vitamin.

 As an antioxidant, vitamin E is one of the most commonly taken vitamin
supplements in the world and included in virtually every multivitamin
pill.

 The research may explain, Traber said, why many past research studies
done with vitamin E have varied findings. It's quite possible, she said,
that the manner in which people took vitamin E supplements and the
variation in its bioavailability from person to person have yielded
widely inconsistent results about the value of this nutrient in heart
disease and other degenerative diseases.

 It may also be time to consider routine fortification of more foods with
this vitamin, Traber said.

 "For good reasons, Americans are increasingly moving towards low-fat
diets," Traber said. "But average low-fat diets provide only about 5-8
international units a day of vitamin E. The recommended dietary allowance
of vitamin E is 30 I.U. and it's possible that higher amounts than that
are useful for optimal health. So we have to find ways to make sure
everyone is getting enough of this nutrient."

A glitch, the researchers say, is that vitamin E is an oil, and people
are now being told to use oils very sparingly. It can be found in nuts,
oily fish, some vegetables and oils such as safflower, olive and canola
oil. The most common way that people get vitamin E is through rich
desserts and cooking oils.

 "If people are getting all the vitamin E they need through a healthy,
balanced diet, that's great," Traber said. "But we really don't want to
be telling people to eat more fat, and that's generally where vitamin E
is found. That's why it's appealing to find an effective way of obtaining
this nutrient, such as vitamin E fortification of what is essentially a
low-fat food."

 This controlled study was done by LPI scientists, funded by and in
collaboration with the Bell Nutrition Institute of General Mills.

 In it, scientists tested the results of four different types of
breakfasts: a pill of 400 I.U. of vitamin E with skim milk; a serving of
a wheat breakfast cereal fortified with 30 I.U. of vitamin E; a serving
of wheat breakfast cereal fortified with 400 I.U. of vitamin E; and a
serving of wheat breakfast cereal with a pill of 400 I.U. vitamin E taken
separately.

 The pill of 400 I.U. vitamin E taken with just a glass of milk, in theory
should have provided more than 13 times the RDA of this nutrient. But, in
fact, it raised the level of new vitamin E in the blood by only 3
percent. By comparison, the cereal fortified with 30 I.U. vitamin E
raised the blood plasma level of new vitamin E five times higher than
that, and the cereal fortified with 400 I.U. raised the new blood plasma
level 30 times higher.

 The effect of a pill of 400 I.U. taken with a serving of plain wheat
cereal was inconsistent; some participants had a significant increase in
blood plasma levels of vitamin E, others almost none.

 "This study clearly showed that applying vitamin E onto a grain cereal
provided a huge and consistent increase in its bioavailability," said
Scott Leonard, an LPI research assistant who conducted the study. "Even
30 I.U., the RDA for this vitamin, produced a large increase in new blood
plasma levels."

 According to Traber and Leonard, this indicates that people who are
taking vitamin E supplements only with liquids on an empty stomach are
accomplishing nothing and getting few if any benefits from the
supplements. The vitamin clearly is absorbed better if it is part of, or
closely associated with the digestion of a food that has some fat in it.

 Vitamin E has been explored in recent years for its potential value in
prevention of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and other health
concerns. The results of this study may explain in part why the other
research has often yielded inconsistent results, Traber said.

 "It's now clear that vitamin E must be taken in a certain way to be
effective, either in a food containing vitamin E or in a supplement
properly associated with a food," Traber said. "So anyone studying
vitamin E for a clinical response must now be sure they are using it in a
regimen that works."

 It may also be time to consider the expansion of vitamin E as a routine
food additive, she said.

 "In our pursuit of low-fat diets, we increasingly are taking the fat out
of foods but not putting the vitamin E back," Traber said.

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