Researchers say most pills have only one form of the nutrient and it can be harmful in large doses.
People should take Only modest levels of vitamin E in pills and then eat foods that contain more complete forms of the nutrient, said Stephan Christen, a biochemist and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. Earlier studies had shown that vitamin E protects against heart disease and cancer and slows aging by absorbing oxygen free radicals, destructive chemicals that form during metabolism and when the body fights disease. To get full benefit from the vitamin, people also need garnmatocopherol, found in soybeans, nuts and grains, said Christen, lead author of the study. The researcher said he hopes vitamin pill companies soon will add that second form of the vitamin to their formulas. Christen said that of the E vitamins, only gammatocopherol gets rid of peroxynitrite, a highly destructive nitric oxide radical found at sites of inflammation.