Vitamin E in Human Health

Vitamin E is a well described and established fat-soluble essential micronutrient and as such has to be provided to the human body on a regular basis in order to avoid deficiency and maintain a healthy status. This is well established and also reviewed in a number of publications. However, a huge body of evidence has accumulated over the last decade, or so, which provides new insights on the mode of action of vitamin E, and the biological role of the tocopherol isomers, and sheds new light on the role of vitamin E in human health. Both fundamental knowledge gain and new data on the role and challenges of vitamin E as an essential micronutrient, including emerging evidence on clinical benefits, will be addressed to put this essential micronutrient in the appropriate perspective. Given this level of new evidence which has emerged over the recent years, a book on vitamin E will put into perspective the concerns which have been raised on vitamin E and which resulted in a misinformation and confusion of the public regarding the importance of vitamin E for human health. This book will reemphasize that Vitamin E is clearly required for human health and its inadequacy leads to increased risk of a variety of diseases. In addition new data of non-communicable diseases (NCD) dependent on vitamin E status show that a lifetime of low intake increases risks of development, severity and complications of NCDs. This text will put the vitamin E case into an up-to-date, science based, applicable real-life perspective and offer pragmatic solutions for its safe and personalized use beyond the various methodological and statistical controversies. The purpose of this book is also to raise awareness not only in the nutrition and medical community, but also in the public media that there are a number of health conditions where an increased intake of vitamin E can be of potential importance. Further this review shouldalso stimulate funding organizations and agencies to increase their support for vitamin E research in order to facilitate the further exploration of the safe and efficacious use of this essential micronutrient.

About the Author

Peter WeberInstitute of Biological Chemistry and NutritionUniversity of HohenheimStuttgart, Germany Marc BirringerDepartment of Nutritional, Food and Consumer SciencesFulda University of Applied SciencesFulda, Germany Jeffrey B. Blumberg,PhD, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on AgingFriedman School of Nutrition Science and PolicyTufts University Manfred Eggersdorfer DSM Nutritional ProductsKaiseraugst, Switzerland Jan FrankInstitute of Biological Chemistry and NutritionUniversity of HohenheimStuttgart, Germany