Study: Fortifying Certain Foods Best Way to Deliver Vitamin E to Bloodstream

Fortifying certain foods with vitamin E appears to be the best way to get it into the bloodstream, while taking vitamin E supplements alone is largely useless, according to a study reported in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Vitamin E is one of the most commonly taken vitamin supplements in the world and included in virtually every multivitamin pill. As an antioxidant, vitamin E has been explored in recent years for its potential value in prevention of Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, cancer, and other health problems.

Oregon State University researchers found that vitamin E-fortified cereal has a very high rate of absorption into the bloodstream, whereas pills taken separately with the same food have inconsistent effects.

Researcher Maret Traber, an OSU professor and national expert on vitamin E, said the findings may explain why many past studies with vitamin E have varied findings because the manner in which it was taken was apparently not a consideration.

Traber and her colleagues tested four different types of breakfasts: a 400 IU (international units) vitamin E pill with skim milk; a serving of a wheat cereal fortified with 30 IU of vitamin E; a serving of wheat cereal fortified with 400 IU of vitamin E; and a serving of wheat cereal with a pill of 400 IU vitamin E taken separately.

The researchers found that the vitamin E pill taken with just a glass of milk raised the level of new vitamin E in the blood by only 3 percent, while the cereal fortified with 30 IU of vitamin E raised the blood plasma level of new vitamin E five times higher and the cereal fortified with 400 IU raised the new blood plasma level 30 times higher.

The effect of a vitamin E pill of 400 IU taken with a serving of plain wheat cereal was inconsistent as some participants had a significant increase in blood plasma levels of vitamin E, while others almost none.

"This study clearly showed that applying vitamin E onto a grain cereal provided a huge and consistent increase in its bioavailability," said researcher Scott Leonard. "Even 30 IU, the recommended dietary allowance for this vitamin, produced a large increase in new blood plasma levels."

The researchers said people who are taking vitamin E supplements only with liquids on an empty stomach are accomplishing nothing and getting few if any benefits from the supplements.

"It's now clear that vitamin E must be taken in a certain way to be effective, either in a food containing vitamin E or in a supplement properly associated with a food," Traber said.

Traber said it may also be time to consider the expansion of vitamin E as a routine food additive. "In our pursuit of low-fat diets, we increasingly are taking the fat out of foods but not putting the vitamin E back," she said.

Other soures: Oregon State University, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004 79: 86-92