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 softgel capsule.

Vitamin E is not a single chemical substance, but there are four slightly different tocopherols in nature: alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol. Alpha-tocopherol is the most important substance because it is effective even in small doses. It is also the most important component in the body: around 90% of its vitamin E content is made up of alpha-tocopherol.

Due to the varying effectiveness of the individual compounds, it is difficult to compare the vitamin E content of foods. Soya oil, for example, 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 in the form of gamma-tocopherol, whereas 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 stated in so-called "international units" (i.U.). This quantity refers to the biological effectiveness. The following conversion factor applies: 1 milligram alpha-tocopherol = 1.49 i. E.

Vitamin E fulfils numerous tasks in our body. These can be attributed above all to the antioxidant function of vitamin E, particularly in protecting cell membranes from free radicals.

Vitamin E is primarily contained in vegetable oils. Good sources are, for example, wheat germ, sunflower, maize germ, soya or rapeseed oil. Hazelnuts and wheat germ also contain significant amounts. Animal foods generally contain rather little vitamin E.