It may also reduce the blood's ability to clot, thus lowering the risk of atherosclerosis and heart attacks. In addi-tion, E may be protective because it helps reduce inflammatory processes, which have been linked with coronary artery disease. Also strong is the research about E's role in bolstering the immune system, especially in older people. Four forms of E Vitamin E is a generic term for a group of related compounds. It occurs naturally in four major forms-alpha, beta, gamma, and delta tocopherols.
Alpha tocopherol is by far the main type in the body, as well as in supplements.
Gamma is the main tocopherol in foods. Recently, Stephan Christan and other researchers in the laboratory of Dr. Bruce Ames at UC Berkeley showed that gamma is even more effective than alpha tocopherol in limiting damage to LDL in the test tube, as reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in April. The researchers suggested that alpha and gamma tocopherol actually play complementary roles, and that the two taken together may be more effective than either one alone. This new research, while underlining the potential importance of gamma tocopherol, doesn't have much of a practical effect for consumers-at least not yet. Since the exact interactions and activity of the various forms of vitamin E are unknown, it's impossible to say what the optimal combination would be.