Although it is desirable to obtain nutrients in either adequate or therapeutic levels from food, this is not always a possibility. Vitamin E, incidentally, is found in plant oils, such as seeds, grains and nuts, with almonds boasting a high content in comparison to others. The Family Vitamin E is not just one molecular entity. The difference between members of the subgroups is that tocotrienols possess three double bonds on the tail. The differences between the singular components lie in the methyl groups attached to the chroman ring.
Alpha has three sites, beta and gamma have two in different places, and delta has one.
Vitamin E works mainly in the fatty cell structures to prevent oxidation damage caused by free radicals. Only Vitamin E can move in this medium, targeting and quenching free radicals in the process. Since Vitamin E is soluble in fat, and not in blood, which is primarily water, in order to travel through the bloodstream, vitamin E must be carried in a complex particle called a lipoprotein. IU were meant to be the vitamin E currency. And, speaking of dosage, disregard the vitamin E IU on most mass market multivitamins, suggest several health professionals.