The run for Vitamin E

We all have encountered bad health at some point in time among our family members or close ones. And most of the times these are outcome of health negligence on the pretext of ignorance. We clearly don't practice "prevention is better than cure". 

A balanced diet is always recommended for healthy dose of nutrients

Nutritionists and doctors, have always advised intake of balanced meals to compensate the loss of vitamins, minerals and other necessary ingredients required by the body. While calcium, protein and vitamin C or D are highly recommended by experts, there lies the lesser known but equally important Vitamin E. 

Until I started using under eye cream enriched with Vitamin E, I admit my ignorance about the same.
The eye cream helped to reduce puffiness and fine lines around my eyes. It was then I researched about the super benefits of Vitamin E.

Calcium or protein do not work in isolation. They essentially need vitamins and minerals to combine and together they provide goodness to human body. Hence why no food product is taken for a standalone benefit of particular vitamin/mineral. Vitamin E too stands in the same category. It is said to work the best with Vitamin C, as they support each other's antioxidant function and both control immune cell function.

Importance:
Vitamin E is extremely beneficial for hair, skin and eye health. The reason why anti-aging products are high on Vitamin E is that it disables the production of free radicals in tissues and protects cell membranes from oxidative damage. 

When applied to the skin topically, vitamin E can reduce or aging in skin which is usually caused by UV light exposure (Sun) or suppression of immune system. Vitamin E helps increase the production of beneficial compounds in skin.

It also speeds up the skin’s natural repair systems and controls further damage. The antioxidant vitamin is proved to substantially reverse discoloration and wrinkles of skin. To be more precise, Vitamin E helps  to regulate retinol levels, which is essential for healthy skin. It is also key for healthy immune system and healthy eyes. Hence I choose skin creams with retinol. 

My mum loves Anew Reversalist range. The right amount of retinol and patented technology helped smoothe out her wrinkles and fine lines. 

Human body needs Vitamin E to boost immunity. It aids in fighting the invasion of bacteria and viruses. 

Apart from the above  uses, Vitamin E is also used to treat diseases of heart and blood vessels like heart attack, chest pain, high blood pressure and hardening of arteries.

The fat soluble vitamin  is beneficial  in preventing cancer, particularly lung and oral cancer (for smokers) , gastric, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. 

At times Vitamin E is used to lessen the harmful side effects of medical treatments like dialysis (kidney damage) or radiation (cancer). It is also used to reduce the side effects of medicines causing hair loss or lung damage.

Deficiency of Vitamin E: may cause degeneration of retina causing blindness, muscle weakness and impairment of immune response.  

It can also cause your hair to dry, hair fall leading to baldness, weak muscles, a very slow tissue healing, ataxia (identified with loss of full control of bodily movements) and leg cramps ( which I at times experience). 

The down side:
Excess of everything is bad, so is Vitamin E. High doses of Vitamin E causes oxidation which damages cells and may increase the risk of cancer or mortality. Long term high doses of the vitamin leads to nausea, diarrhea or vision deficiencies.  

Sources:
The daily recommended dietary allowance of Vitamin E for adults is 15 mg (22.4 International Units) which we can get from variety of sources.

I was following the age old ritual, inculcated by mom, of consuming soaked almonds each morning. The world knows almonds are a rich source of dietary fiber, calcium and protein. But hardly one is aware of the presence of Vitamin E in good amount. (100 g almonds supply 26.2 mg Vitamin E.)
No wonder why almonds enriched hair oils promise strong and healthy hair.

Pic courtesy- Pixabay

Another high source of Vitamin E is sunflower seeds, 100 g of which contain 35.17 mg of the vitamin. Easily available in the market, add these seeds to your salad, sprouts, sandwich, upma or in your diet mixtures. 

Available the whole year, we all love to have crunchy peanuts. A reservoir of healthy fat and protein, Vitamin E in peanuts constitute 20% of the nutrition value. These little nuts are good for heart health, excellent source of dietary fiber  and folate. 

Talking about other healthy nuts, walnuts comes to our mind essentially because of high presence of manganese, protein, carbs and omega-6. Not only these, walnuts are a great source of Vitamin E too! Research proves, walnuts, compared to other nuts, contain high levels of Vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol which prevent heart diseases, cataract, Parkinson's disease and glaucoma. 

Among all, my favorite has been raisins. While these tiny dry fruits are excellent source of calcium, instant energy and iron, 100 g of raisins also provide 0.12 mg of Vitamin E. Though this is roughly 1% of all nutrition content, it combines with iron for inhibition of blood clot.  

My bowl of good health contains raisins with flax seeds, peanuts, roasted black grams and fox nuts, which is my on-the-go snack of evening or between meals.

Come winters and the market is flooded with leafy greens. Spinach tops the list. Not only spinach is high on iron, vitamin A, K, and calcium but also has traces of Vitamin E, dietary fiber and manganese. Apart from making paalak paneer, I add blanched spinach to all possible dishes. For example blanched spinach to poha or egg besan chilla. (100 g serving of eggs have 7% vitamin E).

For both these dishes, I blanch about a cup of spinach leaves and add to the pan while cooking.  
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My version of healthy of poha fortified with spinach and egg

                          

Adding eggs and blanched spinach to chickpea cheela for healthy dose of Vitamin E and iron

Rich in Vitamin C and E, tomatoes not only add tanginess to food but has immense health value. Apart from cooking, you can use tomato directly on skin. The seedy pulp which I do not use in cooking, I rub the same on my face and neck, let it dry for 15 minutes and wash off with cold water. Your skin absorbs the goodness of tomato directly giving a smooth texture and radiance to skin. It has helped me get a glow and rid of acne marks as well. I do this quick tomato facial before party makeup or when I have no time to visit parlor. Just takes 15 minutes and I am done! Yay.

I bank on tomato facial

The source of Vitamin E's list goes on endless with things like Kiwi, Avocado, sunflower oil, canola oil, hazelnuts, turnip, sesame oil and many more.

Apart from the natural sources mentioned above, you can consume vitamin E supplements too. Evion is a pioneer brand for Vitamin E products. With a combination of Vitamin E with aloe vera, #Envion is India's number one selling cream. The brand also supplies supplements in form of capsules and tablets. To know more do visit   http://www.evion.co.in/.

This post is written for the #IndiBlogger campaign #TheABCofVitaminE by #Evion.