Vitamin E
A huge player when it comes to tackling oxidative stress, vitamin E goes under the microscope here.
Major Functions
Antioxidant - Memory - Immunity
In every dose
30mg (equal to 7oz of hazelnuts)
Fighting Talk
Vitamin E is shown to protect from cognitive decline and memory loss, and promote proper function of the central and peripheral nervous system.
What’s in it for my brain?
Antioxidants are essential for brain health as they fight free radicals caused by oxidative stress which can cause cells to age. These are chemical reactions which occur naturally in the body, but everyday environmental stress like pollution, and lifestyle factors like exercise, smoking and drinking all lead to an increase in oxidative stress and increase our requirements for antioxidants
Fringe benefits
Helps maintain healthy skin and eyes
Important for immune function
Plays well with
Taking vitamin E with fish oil (like omega 3) will support its absorption into the blood stream
Clever stuff
Because it’s fat-soluble, any vitamin E that your body doesn’t use immediately is stored for future use.
Evidence
Here’s a handful of relevant scientific studies on vitamin E.
Morris, M. C., Evans, D. A., Bienias, J. L., Tangney, C. C., & Wilson, R. S. (2002). Vitamin E and cognitive decline in older persons. Archives of neurology, 59(7), 1125-1132.
Gugliandolo, A., Bramanti, P., & Mazzon, E. (2017). Role of vitamin E in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: Evidence from animal models. International journal of molecular sciences, 18(12), 2504.
Schrag, M., Mueller, C., Zabel, M., Crofton, A., Kirsch, W. M., Ghribi, O., ... & Perry, G. (2013). Oxidative stress in blood in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis. Neurobiology of disease, 59, 100-110.
EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA), Turck, D., Bresson, J. L., Burlingame, B., Dean, T., Fairweather‐Tait, S., ... & Naska, A. (2016). Vitamin E and protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage: evaluation of a health claim pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. EFSA Journal, 14(10), e04588.
Poon, H. F., Calabrese, V., Scapagnini, G., & Butterfield, D. A. (2004). Free radicals and brain aging. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 20(2), 329-359.
Kumar, H., Lim, H. W., More, S. V., Kim, B. W., Koppula, S., Kim, I. S., & Choi, D. K. (2012). The role of free radicals in the aging brain and Parkinson’s disease: convergence and parallelism. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 13(8), 10478-10504.