Vitamin E and Healthy Aging

Tip for Healthy Aging: Get Plenty of Vitamin E

While Vitamin E has gotten some negative press lately, eating as much as 200 IU (international units) of vitamin E daily has been found to be vital to good health. Vitamin E supplements usually come in the form of alpha tocopherol, but Vitamin E in foods comes in a few other forms. With Vitamin E being so vital to your health, you need to find some way or another to make sure you get adequate Vitamin E daily.

Benefits of Vitamin E for the Circulatory System

One of the proven benefits of Vitamin E is in the function of the circulatory system. In fact, having adequate Vitamin E may help the blood hold up to 40% more oxygen. In turn this oxygen helps promote healthy functioning of all of the organs where the blood flows. As a result, the immune system may also function much more effectively as a result of the action of Vitamin E in the blood.

As if those weren't enough circulatory benefits, Vitamin E also functions as an anticoagulant and a blood vessel dilator. The ability of Vitamin E to help the blood resist internal clotting can help protect the heart, brain, and lungs. The heart and other organs will receive plenty of healthy, oxygenated blood as a result of getting adequate Vitamin E in the diet. Many anti-aging experts will tell you that getting plenty of healthy blood circulation is an excellent way to slow down the aging process. So the vitality of the body can be preserved and maintained much longer, particularly the vitality of your vital organs.

The effects of Vitamin E are believed to be seen in the hemoglobin, which is an essential part of the formation of the cells in the bone marrow. Many diseases related to hemoglobin could turn out to have some correlation to Vitamin E deficiency. This would explain the link between oxygen in the blood and Vitamin E, as the hemoglobin detains oxygen in the blood. This may also be linked to the improved function of the immune system when people consume adequate amounts of Vitamin E. As a result, the person may stay healthy much later into life.

Part of the aging process can be seen in the reduced rate of formation of essential parts of the blood as we age. When Vitamin E improves blood development and flow it may help to delay the aging that would result from poor blood development and flow.

The increased ability of blood to flow may be the result of blood that is better formed and purified with the help of Vitamin E, or it may be another function of Vitamin E that hasn't been fully identified. It is for example known that many of us have decreased blood flow as we age as a result of plaques that have formed and gathered inside the circulatory system. As the blood flow is reduced by these plaques, the rate of outward signs of aging may be increased, including crowfeet, sagging tissue, and wrinkling skin. It is reasonable to assume similar effects are taking place internally to the vital organs. Vitamin E may be improving blood flow by helping break down or resist the development of saturated fats and cholesterols that gather in the blood. Hydrocarbons and peroxides are a couple of toxins known to form in the blood that are associated with accelerated aging.

Other Vitamin E Benefits

Vitamin E is associated with fewer muscle problems as well as slowing the arthritic process. There were some interesting studies done on the relationships between muscle cramps and Vitamin E recently. Leg cramps in particular have been shown to be dramatically reduced by adequate Vitamin E intake and increased by Vitamin E deficiency.