Controversy Over Vitamin E

by Dr. Gary Evans

While many health professionals have begun to recognize the value of food supplements, there remains a significant number who consider supplementation a waste of money and dangerous. Fodder for the antisupplement establishment recently appeared in the guise of a "scientific study" testing the safety of vitamin E. The report appeared in print and on the air trumpeting the results of a questionable "study" that claimed those taking vitamin E may have a higher risk of dying. Although a few physicians, those who would rather have us sucking down the drugs they prescribe, immediately claimed the "study" proves vitamin E, and all supplements for that matter, are harmful, the rendering proves primarily that many health professionals do not carefully evaluate, or even carelessly evaluate, published statements.

Please consider some key points regarding the vitamin E report:

• The authors themselves admit that the research reviewed, which was conducted with older subjects who had chronic illnesses, might not apply to younger, healthy people.
• This type of review, called a meta-analysis, was a review of other studies, some of which were more than 10 years old and of varying quality. This type of "armchair science" is only good as the research on which it is based, which in this case is questionable.
• Information was pooled together to "barely" achieve statistical significance.  
• U.S. dietary guidelines, which tend to be conservative and reflect the totality of scientific evidence on a nutrient, recommend an upper limit of 1,500 IU.  
• There are various types and compounds of vitamin E, including synthetic and natural forms, which research shows to have varying effects. However, the differences in the effects of varying types of vitamin E were not addressed in this study.  
• This study needs to be placed in context. Vitamin E has been studied for many years and there are literally thousands of citations in the scientific literature. There is solid evidence showing the benefits of vitamin E, including double-blind clinical trials, that report 400 to 800 IU of natural vitamin E can reduce heart attacks.

Although the news media and the antisupplement groups presented the figures as a scientific study, there was no study. The report was simply a review of numbers gleaned from old and highly questionable information. The professionals who were so quick to condemn vitamin E based on this report owe the public an apology. We won't however get one.

For more information on vitamin E, including its health benefits, clinical applications and other science-based findings, go to: http://www.supplementinfo.org/