Vitamin E Reduces Inflammation

[Health Dr. 2]

Vitamin E Reduces Inflammation: Key to Reducing Heart Disease, Stroke and Other Health Problems
Provided by HealthNewsDigest.com on 1/31/2005


(HealthNewsDigest.com)...NEW YORK, January 27, 2005 - Vitamin E plays a significant role in both reducing inflammation and cleansing the body of damaging free radicals, according to a prominent cardiovascular surgeon speaking today at a health and science writers' workshop on vitamin E and health, held at the New York Academy of Sciences and sponsored by the Council for Responsible Nutrition. However, Americans don't consume enough vitamins and minerals in their diets because of modern methods of food production, so they should consider using supplements to replace the missing nutrients.

Inflammation is the heart of the matter. It's becoming clear that inflammation plays an important causative role in heart disease, Gerald M. Lemole, M.D., told the group. He is W. Samuel Carpenter III Distinguished Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Christiana Care Health Services, and Professor

of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University. The cardiac surgeon explained that normal inflammation is the body's protective response to toxins, pathogens, irritants,

trauma, free radicals, and unrecognized molecules. However, things can go wrong, and groups of inflamed white blood cells may build up, rupture, and trigger a heart attack. The body's response to this is an elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) level, homocysteine level, and fibrinogen-all implicated in worsening heart disease.

In fact, cardiologists now consider an elevated CRP level to be an increasingly important marker for heart disease. He told the group that other risk factors for inflammation are obesity, smoking, genetic predisposition, high stress, and

diets rich in highly processed and carbohydrate-rich foods. Chronic inflammation, he said, is linked to periodontal disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer as well as heart disease. Antioxidants such as vitamin E can ameliorate that risk.

In discussing why nutritional supplementation may be necessary, Dr. Lemole listed several reasons such as environmental stress, nutritional deficiencies in our

food supply, inadequacy of the recommended requirements, constitutional variations, and medically induced deficiencies. He said, We've industrialized farm production, and that's led to serious problems in the micronutritional composition of foods.

Growth hormones and antibiotics, which deplete vitamins A and B, are used in over half of commercial livestock. Refinement of sugars, grains, flours, and other food has deprived us of consuming many essential and nutritional ingredients.

Dr. Lemole told the group that the situation is worsening. There are fewer and fewer naturally occurring antioxidants in our food supply. He cautioned, We know that an inflammatory process can trigger certain diseases. We're aware that age-related immune deficiency is caused by free radicals and that it can be reversed by antioxidants. And unfortunately, we're all too familiar now with the realization that wall of the artery is a living, reactive tissue capable of mounting an inflammatory response. That inflammatory response is heart disease.

[Granola Revolution]

i am vegan and i recently started taking a vitamin E supplement. it's the only one available (apparently, says the staff at a health food store) that is made of non-GMO soybeans. the bad part is that it comes in a gelatin capsule.

so i've been taking it anyway, for the benefits of taking non-GMO vitamin E (even though i'm not so hung up on the soy thing or the gelatin thing).

now, i've been feeling a little under the weather lately, do you think this could contribute to it?
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».τӘә.« ™ we're all pink on the inside

[ghchealth]

There is a vegan Vitamin E made by Dee Cee labs in Vegetarian capsules.

Soybean based products can contain phytoestrogens which could alter the bodies hormone regulation.

[daturocc]

[elo33]

Dietary recommendations for inflammation include:

* Eat foods that are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, such as ground flax seed, fish oil, wild-caught salmon, minimal-mercury albacore tuna, and sprouted walnuts.
* Add saturated fats to your diet that have antimicrobial properties such as organic virgin coconut oil. Read more about good fats and bad fats in the Healthy Diet article.
* Choose complex carbohydrates that have a low glycemic index such as brown rice, raw apples, and winter squash.
* Eat more monounsaturated fats found in raw almonds, cashews, and avocados.
* Choose organic cage-free eggs.
* Eat hormone- and antibiotic-free beef and poultry.
* Eat dark green, leafy vegetables.
* Eat nutrient-dense, unprocessed raw foods, such as nuts and seeds.
* When consuming alcohol, use moderation and preferably choose wine, which has anti-inflammatory properties.
* Drink purified water throughout the day.

Here is list of supplements that help as well -- http://www.jigsawhealth.com/articles/inflammation-recommendations.html