Vitamin E

Precautions

The risks first. Across nine trials and 118,765 participants, vitamin E increased the risk of hemorrhagic stroke by 22% (while reducing ischemic stroke by 10%, with no effect on total strokes); the authors urge caution. In the large SELECT trial, 400 IU per day significantly increased the risk of prostate cancer in over 35,000 healthy men: 1.6 more cases per 1,000 men per year. In people aged 55 and older with vascular disease or diabetes, 400 IU per day for 7 years increased the risk of heart failure and hospitalization for that reason. Regarding mortality, meta-analyses contradict each other: one (19 trials, nearly 136,000 participants) sees a risk that increases with dose and advises avoiding high doses; two others (57 trials and 246,371 participants; 18 trials in healthy people) find no effect. If you train: in young adults, 1,000 mg of vitamin C and 235 mg of vitamin E per day hindered the adaptation of muscle mitochondria to endurance and hampered certain strength gains in weight training; in older men doing weight training, lean mass progressed less (+1.4% vs. +3.9% with placebo). These trials gave vitamin E with vitamin C, not alone. Finally, the limitations: it neither prevents cardiovascular disease nor cancer — 400 IU per day in over 9,500 high-risk individuals made no difference to major cardiovascular events or mortality, and 600 IU every other day for 10 years in nearly 40,000 women reduced neither total cardiovascular events nor cancers (only cardiovascular mortality decreased, by 24%). With weight training, a meta-analysis finds no effect on strength or muscle growth. In fatty liver disease, the benefit does not appear in children.