Supplementa Vitamin E 200 I.U. soft capsules, 90 ST

Vitamin E 200 from KAL provides 200 international units of natural, unesterified vitamin E per soft capsule.

Vitamin E is not a single chemical substance; rather, there are a total of four slightly different forms of tocopherol found in nature: alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol. The most important of these, as it is effective even in small doses, is alpha-tocopherol. It is also the most important component in the body: around 90 per cent of the body’s vitamin E content consists of alpha-tocopherol.

Due to the varying potencies of the individual compounds, it is difficult to compare vitamin E levels in foods. For example, soya oil has a higher tocopherol content than sunflower oil. Nevertheless, the vitamin E activity of sunflower oil is higher, because the vitamin E in soya oil is present in the form of gamma-tocopherol, whilst in sunflower oil it consists mainly of alpha-tocopherol, which is 10 times more potent.

For this reason, the amounts of vitamin E are often expressed in so-called ‘International Units’ (IU). This measure refers to biological activity. The conversion factor is: 1 milligram of alpha-tocopherol = 1.49 IU.

Vitamin E fulfils numerous functions in our bodies. These can be attributed primarily to the antioxidant function of vitamin E, in particular its role in protecting cell membranes from free radicals.

Vitamin E is primarily found in vegetable oils. Good sources include, for example, wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, maize germ oil, soya oil and rapeseed oil. Significant amounts are also found in hazelnuts and wheat germ. Animal-based foods generally contain relatively little vitamin E.