Vitamin E Deficiency is Disastrous for the Brain

Many would try to tell you that aging is to be celebrated, not feared, but with cognitive decline and clinical pathologies such as dementia being so common among those in their 70s, 80s and beyond, you'd wonder what they're talking about. Unfortunately, a century of dominance by the pharmaceutical industry has kept most people away from real health advice, such as the best ways to prevent neurological aging and correct nutrient deficiencies. Vitamin E and its importance are no exception.

Vitamin E is often added to skincare products.
Source: Lightsnlather (CC:3.0)

A shockingly high 90% of men and 96% of women in the USA have an inadequate intake of vitamin E (I am not too optimistic about Australians either). It is sadly unknown to the general population that vitamin E deficiency also puts us at a higher risk for Alzheimer's Disease; although we fear this illness for valid reasons, we have been told that diet doesn't matter. However, researchers at Oregon State University have found that vitamin E aids the transportation of DHA to the brain. DHA is one of the omega-3 fats found in fish oil, which we also produce from essential fatty acids, and is known to assist in the prevention and even relief from a range of neurological issues.

The liver uses vitamin E to produce substances known as lyso PIs, which not only transport DHA to the brain, but also stay around to help repair brain cell membranes! With vitamin E deficiency, the level of lyso PIs in the brain is 60% lower, setting a course for disaster. Within the term "vitamin E", there are also eight different types: four tocopherols, and four tocotrienols, each with the prefix alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-. Most research has focused on alpha-tocopherol, but research has shown that gamma-tocopherol and beta-tocotrienol are the most important for memory, as well as the total blood tocotrienol levels.

Food sources of vitamin E include hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower seed kernels, peanuts and cranberries, but supplementation is often called for in chronic illnesses. Research described by the Linus Pauling Institute describes mixed results with vitamin E supplementation, but this includes many successes. Two of these include significantly slower disease progression and improved survival in patients with Alzheimer's disease, and improved cognitive performance when the supplementation reduced oxidative stress. As the latter only reported benefit when oxidative stress as a whole was lowered, the question is not "does vitamin E work?" but "what other factors should have been addressed when supplementation failed?" They also only regard alpha-tocopherol as "evidence-based" enough, but with the results of the above research, we need a more holistic perspective. Yes, as the LPI writes, vitamin E aids immunity and prevents oxidative stress, but for it to perform at its best we need other nutrients, such as DHA.