THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 2, 1996 TAG: 9608310069
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: 130 lines
``E'' IS FOR . . . Everywhere.
As in vitamin E, touted in recent news reports for its potential ability to slow or prevent everything from heart disease and cancer to circulatory problems associated with diabetes, and aging.
Health-conscious consumers in some parts of the country have emptied market shelves of E, and depleted the supplies of a few manufacturers.
The interest, perhaps, mirrors a nationwide shift away from treatment of disease, toward its prevention. More doctors today suggest vitamin E supplements for people with disease, as well as for healthy people at high risk for certain illnesses.
Even health professionals who say that supplements don't provide the nutrients of a balanced eating plan, recommend foods rich in vitamin E. They include nuts, seeds, whole grains, liver, dried beans, green leafy vegetables, fresh fruits, wheat germ and olive and various vegetable oils.
The foods have been dubbed ``the Mediterranean Diet,'' because they were eaten predominantly by people living in Mediterranean countries in the 1960s. Studies suggest the diet contributed to lower rates of heart disease, cancer and diabetes than did the diets of people in northern Europe and America.
But vitamin E is not the only healthful component of the diet, which also limits saturated fat, while supplying minerals, phytochemicals, fiber and other vitamins.
Wine, which often accompanies meals in the Mediterranean, contains cholesterol-lowering compounds. The diet's accent on olive oil, a monounsaturated fat, helps raise high-density lipoproteins, or ``good'' cholesterol.
And many Mediterranean people are physically active, so daily exercise is a factor in their health.
``Vitamin E is a worth a try, even in a healthy person,'' says Dr. Apurva Patel, a Suffolk cardiologist and spokesman for the American Heart Association.
While it may or may not help you, it probably won't hurt you.
Vitamin E doesn't appear to be toxic, even at high doses, health professionals say.
It is a fat-soluble vitamin, eaten mostly in fatty foods and stored in the body, according to ``Jane Brody's Guide to Personal Health'' (Avon, 1982).
In the first clinical trial in humans to demonstrate benefits from vitamin E, the number of heart attacks in patients with severe heart disease was greatly reduced. The study was published in the March issue of the British medical journal Lancet.
Researchers from Cambridge University fed daily supplements of 400 milligrams or 800 milligrams of vitamin E to 1,000 heart patients, while an equal number were given a placebo. After 17 months, those getting either of the supplements had a quarter of the number of heart attacks suffered by patients getting a placebo. They had no more risk of heart attack than people without disease.
Scientists believe the narrowing of arteries that leads to heart attacks and stroke is caused by the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins, or ``bad'' cholesterol. The LDL lodges in the walls of the blood vessels.
Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, may prevent oxidation, researchers theorize.
Research on animals, in tissue samples and even with human arterial lesions supports the theory, says Dr. Herbert J. Kayden, professor of medicine at New York University College of Medicine in New York City.
Other research indicates the antioxidant qualities of E could guard against stomach and other cancers.
``There's no question that vitamin E is an effective antioxidant in a test tube,'' says Kayden, ``but it's difficult to say with absolute security what happens in humans.''
So complicated are the mechanisms involved in heart disease, for example, that a definitive study to prove vitamin E's preventive role could involve thousands of participants and take as long as 40 years, he says.
In yet another recent study, at the University of Arizona, researchers fround vitamin E may help slow aging of the nervous and immune systems.
And E has been shown to relieve symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease, a benign condition that gives the breasts a ``lumpy'' feeling, according to author Brody.
The recommended daily allowances are 8 milligrams for women and 10 milligrams for men, says Woodson. But some experts recommend up to 100 or more for insurance - for the potential preventive effects.
She and other registered dietitians believe foods are the best sources but ``even though we encourage people to eat a healthy diet, most people don't,'' she says.
A supplement may benefit someone on a low-fat diet, at risk for disease or largely dependent on convenience foods. Vitamins are lost when foods are preserved, stored or cooked, Woodson says.
When shopping for supplements, look for ``vitamin E, alpha tocopherol, made from natural sources'' on the label, Brody says. ``The natural form is slightly more active than the synthetic.''
Some drugstores, health-food stores and supermarkets in Hampton Roads stock both. Despite reports of shortages nationwide, an informal check indicates supplies here are plentiful.
``There is an increased demand,'' however, says Christie Moore, vitamin buyer at the Heritage Store in Virginia Beach. Still, the market's shelves are brimming with various dosages and bottle sizes, she says.
The Whole Foods Co-op in Norfolk, The Storehouse in Virginia Beach and several local drugstores report business as usual in the vitamin aisle, despite E's newfound notoriety.
Interest likely will pick up, buyers say, as consumers and physicians hear more about E - and if research continues to unveil the vitamin's potential powers. MEMO: Staff writer Pat Dooley and Steven Pratt of the Chicago Tribune
contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
VITAMIN E SOURCES
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant found in nuts, grains and
seeds and oils.
Here are some foods and their percentage of the Recommended Daily
Allowance per tablespoon, unless otherwise noted:
Hazelnut oil: 64
Sunflower oil: 61
Almond oil: 53
Cottonseed oil: 48
Safflower oil: 46
Grapeseed oil: 39
Wheat germ (1 ounce): 39
Corn oil: 19
Olive oil: 16
Peanut oil: 16
Soybean oil: 15
Stick margarine: 12
Mango (3 1/2 ounces): 12
Black currants (1 cup): 11
Blackberries (1 cup): 11
Apple (5 ounces): 8
Source: Prevention Magazine's Nutrition Advisor; (c) 1996,
Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
KEYWORDS: VITAMIN E by CNB