Did you know you can boost the benefits of Vitamin E with Fish Oils?

What is vitamin E?

Vitamin E, as we may know it, refers to alpha-Tocopherol, which is the most active of a group of 8 fat-soluble compounds (4 Tocopherols and 4 Tocotrienols). It is, together with vitamin C and beta carotene, a powerful antioxidant that protects against cellular damage.

You expose your body to various free radicals, both exogenous (air pollution, UV from the sun and cigarette smoke etc.) and endogenous (from the breakdown of food into energy). The primary role of vitamin E is to stop the formation of these reactive oxygen species, thus having a protective effect against numerous chronic diseases and even against many cancers.

What are the benefits of vitamin E?

1. A powerful antioxidant

Being such a powerful antioxidant, vitamin E has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system in particular, as it helps prevent and treat high blood pressure, chest pain, artery stiffening, atherosclerosis and even myocardial infarction.

Because of its antioxidant properties, it also ensures the proper functioning of the immune system, it reduces nerve damage due to chemotherapy, and it diminishes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and allergy manifestations.

2. Protects against age-related illness

It is believed that Tocopherol, together with vitamin C, may delay Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, meanwhile having a positive effect on motion related illnesses such as ataxia, Parkinson’s, restless leg syndrome or even epilepsy.

On top of that, when taken together with vitamin A, it can protect your eyesight, delaying age-related vision problems such as macular degeneration.

3. Boost Fertility

In men, vitamin E can increase fertility, while in women, it has a protective effect against the complications of high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia). The vitamin can also benefit women by easing painful periods and by reducing PMS symptoms.

4. Anaemia prevention & treatment

Anaemia is a condition that develops due to a lack of healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin. Vitamin E can help with anaemia because of the potentiating effect it has on erythropoietin, the molecule responsible for red blood cell production.

5. Enhance Physical performance

Supplementing with this nutrient can increase your physical performance and endurance, boosts your energy levels and reduces muscle soreness after training due to its antioxidant properties.

What are the benefits of taking vitamin E with fish oils?

Rich sources of vitamin E are vegetable oils, cereals, meat, poultry, eggs or fruits. Fish oils are abundant in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as omega 3 or omega 6. Both of them have positive effects on the metabolism and your general health, but when taken together, they enhance one another’s impact. They share a lot of similar or complementary functions in the human body.

Working primarily as an antioxidant (which prevents non-enzymatic oxidation of cellular components), vitamin E protects the structure and functions of omega fatty acids (which you can find in any cell membrane throughout the body). This implies that the intake requirements of vitamin E increase exponentially with the necessity of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

What are the benefits of vitamin E for skin health?

Vitamin E is especially beneficial when taken together with fish oils for promoting skin health, as they both have positive effects on the body’s natural protective barrier (the skin). Vitamin E fights against age-related problems, as well as against the adverse effects that chemotherapy has on the epidermis.

Another great combination to consider when supplementing is to take vitamin E together with vitamin C. This is beneficial because they both reduce inflammation after sun exposure, and help maintain healthy, glowing skin due to their antioxidant properties.