When it is time for the annual health check up one should check with their healthcare provider and find out the Vitamin E level.

Vitamin E protects against cardiovascular disease and stroke by reducing oxidative degradation of LDL cholesterol while improving plasma LDL breakdown; retarding excessive platelet aggregation; increasing HDL cholesterol levels.

An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Stampfer et al. (1993) talks about Vitamin E Levels being more predictive of developing a heart attack or stroke than total cholesterol levels.

Stampfer et al. (1993) looked at 87,245 nurses and reached the conclusion that nurses who took 100 IU of vitamin E daily for more than 2 years had a 41% (forty-one-percent) less risk for heart disease than nurses who did not take any Vitamin E supplements.

I cannot stress enough the connection between a proper diet and the prevention of disease.  Of course, a perfect diet is hard to come by, so supplementation is the next best thing. However, the key word here is supplementation, not replacement. A healthy diet should be enhanced with vitamins and minerals and one should not replace the other.

Supplements and poor eating habits still make poor eating habits. Simply going for the quick fix will not work.

Stampfer et al. (1993) elaborate “…public policy recommendations about the widespread use of vitamin E should await the results of these trials,” (from the abstract) referring to clinical trial being conducted at that time.

Reference:

Stampfer, M. J., Hennekens, C. H., Manson, J. E., Colditz, G. A., Rosner, B., & Willett, W. C. (1993). Vitamin E Consumption and the Risk of Coronary Disease in Women. New England Journal of Medicine, 328(20), 1444–1449. doi:10.1056/NEJM199305203282003