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Heart Healthy Vitamins-E’s & B’s… Why?
By admin | August 25, 2009
The causes and treatment of coronary heart disease is often ignored when it comes to vitamins. Vitamin E and vitamin B are very important to heart health.
Vitamin E, both the traditional tocopherols and the more newly reported tocotrienols, is quite significant. Other vitamins that are important to heart health are the B vitamins. The most notable B vitamins for their help in fighting heart disease are: vitamins B-2, B-4, B-6, B-12 and Folic acid. The B vitamins are symbiotic…they basically work together, mutually benefiting each other.
Vitamin E is really a broad term. There are 8 related “E” vitamins that are broken down into 2 categories, tocopherols and tocotrienols. They are all fat soluble vitamins and need an oil base for best assimilation by your body.
The most noteworthy of these vitamins and most researched is the alpha tocopherol. Most studies, when they use the alpha tocopherol, cause a reduction of the serum gamma tocopherol and the delta tocopherol. In addition, there is the unknown role of the other tocopherol and tocotrienols… their influence and interaction.
Numerous studies show that vitamin E is a good anti-oxidant and cell membrane protector. More recent tests have challenged its reputation as a weapon against heart disease.
There seems to be a lot of confusion on vitamin E with conflicting research on the subject. Contradictory research reports are probably due to inadequate isolation of all factors and variables. Since there are 8 forms of the vitamin and since synthetics and single forms are often tested, the picture is not clear on vitamin E’s efficacy.
Natural sources have more factors than single supplements. Sometimes there is a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship of ingredients in the mix. There are catalysts, minerals, phytonutrients and other unknown factor that are not isolated but influence the conclusion drawn.
I believe the weight of evidence for vitamin E research shows it is a good antioxidant, reducing free radical damage and inflammation. This anti- inflammatory aspect is especially important in the arteries and lining of the heart.
As it is frequently reported in the medical literature, LDL cholesterol collects and forms a dangerous plaque when there is inflammation in the endothelial (blood vessel) linings. It is this accumulation of plaque that causes atherosclerosis, higher blood pressure and ultimately more heart attack and stroke.
In a study of approximately 90,000 nurses, a reduction of heart disease 30% to 40% was found in the nurses with the highest levels of vitamin E. The source of vitamin E was found to consist of both a supplement and good natural sources.
A study in Finland of 5,133 men and women concluded that increased dietary intake of vitamin E decreased the death rate from heart disease. Another study reported by the American Heart Association in their journal Circulation found that “women taking regular doses of vitamin E or Tocopherol were 21% less likely to suffer a blood clot”.
My impression is, since drug companies pay for most of the research, they will cherry pick and promote publishing any studies that show favor of heart drugs over supplements that are in direct competition. I question the conduct and well controlled process of these studies on the supplements, because of conflict of interest. Cardiac drugs are a blockbuster source of income for cholesterol, beta blocker and high blood pressure type drugs.
The causes and treatment of coronary heart disease are sometimes drugs. Cholesterol lowering drugs can make heart disease worse (twice the heart failure rate in many studies). No doubt drugs can help acute symptoms in heart disease but they do not solve the root problem. For more understanding and documentation on the cholesterol myth get the free report on this site…Denis Van Loan D.D.S.
P.S. Agree or disagree…leave a comment below.
Topics: Alternative, Health, Heart Disease, alternative health | No Comments »