Why You Need Vitamin E
Unstable Fats Create Toxic Byproducts - Lipid Peroxidation
Lipid peroxidation is a process in which free radicals attack and damage cell membranes’ lipids (fats). This process can lead to the formation of reactive compounds called lipid peroxides. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that contain unpaired electrons in their outermost electron shell. This makes them want to take electrons from other molecules in order to stabilize themselves. This can initiate chain reactions, leading to cellular damage and various diseases. Lipid peroxidation can disrupt cell membrane integrity, impair cellular functions, and cause damage to various tissues and organs. It is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer.
You can think of it as the process of food going rancid (oxidation). Just as food can spoil or become rancid when exposed to oxygen, heat, or light, the process of lipid peroxidation involves the oxidative degradation of fats in the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This process can lead to the production of undesirable compounds and the deterioration of the lipid molecules.
Out of all the fats PUFA is the most prone to going rancid. The number of double bonds in a fatty acid determines its susceptibility to oxidation. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which contain multiple double bonds, are more prone to oxidation compared to monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which have only one double bond, and saturated fatty acids (SFA) which have 0 double bonds. These double bonds have a relatively weaker bond strength compared to single bonds, making them more susceptible to attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other oxidizing agents.
Coconut oil, with its predominantly saturated fat content, can be left in a bucket at room temperature for a year or more without showing any evidence of deterioration. Try to leave your fish oil outside for a year… how long will it take to turn rancid? In your cells, fats seem to act the same way.
Vitamin E Role In PUFA
Vitamin E is our first line of defense against lipid peroxidation. Vitamin E interrupts lipid peroxidation by donating an electron to the free radicals or ROS, effectively neutralizing them. By doing so, vitamin E prevents the chain reaction of lipid peroxidation from propagating and minimizes oxidative damage to lipids. It acts as a sacrificial antioxidant, sacrificing itself to protect the lipids from further oxidation.
NATURE HAS ALWAYS KNOWN THIS.
Foods high in PUFA are always paired with vitamin E.
Nuts, Seeds, Oils, Fish, Grains, ShellFish… ALL contain Vitamin E.
This is because Vitamin E is used up to defend your body from PUFA breakdown. However, prolonged high heat destroys Vitamin E, and Vegetable/Seed Oils undergo multiple heating stages as part of their refining and processing.
Olive Oil doesn’t require any heating… Just squeeze the darn thing!
These heating processes, unfortunately, destroy vitamin E which is highly sensitive to heat. As a result, the vitamin E content of commercially processed seed oils is significantly reduced compared to their original levels. Also, since all the vegetable/seed oils are high in PUFA the intense heating can lead to the formation of harmful breakdown byproducts, such as lipid peroxides and free radicals.
You are loading yourself with PUFA and free radicals but without the accompanying nutrients like vitamin E.
Just two of the products of lipid peroxidation. malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) have been associated with:
I’m sure you guys can find more…
Bottom line: Excess PUFA causes a Vitamin E Deficiency. A vitamin E deficiency leads to an excessive accumulation of PUFA byproducts causing slowing of the metabolism, estrogen increase, aging, degenerative diseases, and more.
What Can You Do?
Here are the steps to start to detox PUFA:
Eliminate vegetable/seed oils from your diet. All ordinary foods contain significant amounts of polyunsaturated fats, you will not become “deficient”. 99% of healthy grocery store snacks contain vegetable/seed oils in their ingredients.
Replace Vegetable/Seed oils with monounsaturated (MUFA) fats and saturated fats (SFA). I eat approximately 90% of my fats from MUFA and SFA and 10% from PUFA. See Food Guide.
Over time MUFA and SFA will displace the excess PUFA. However, your body still has a lot of PUFA stored in fat stores from the years of eating PUFA in the past. The half-life of fat stores is around 400-600 days. The more fat you are holding the more PUFA you will be able to hold. A vitamin E supplement will help decrease stress and mitigate any damage that could be caused while the PUFA gets out of the tissues. Increasing SFA and Vitamin E will minimize lipid peroxidation.
I know that we live in a modern world. The industrial revolution and… and people like to eat at restaurants. However, 95% of restaurants cook in vegetable oils. You can minimize lipid peroxidation from PUFA by taking Vitamin E and having saturated fat with the meal.
P.S. I am also a huge fan of saunas. You sweat all the toxins out instead of letting them clog up all your detox pathways.
What To Look For In a Vitamin E Supplement
1. A lot of Vitamin E on the market is synthetic. Synthetic Vitamin E has the prefix “dl -” alpha-tocopherol. Natural Vitamin E has the prefix “d -” alpha-tocopherol.
2. Vitamin E has multiple components. They have 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols. A lot of Vitamin E only provides 1/4 tocopherols. You want one with 4 tocopherols, there is still some debate on 4 tocotrienols.
3. In a non-PUFA oil base. Most Vitamin E is in a soybean oil base. You end up taking PUFA with Vitamin E.
4. No filler, no unnecessary (chemical) ingredients.
Here are Vitamin E Supplements that I have vetted and use myself.
You can also use Red Palm Oil as a whole-food Vitamin E Source.
🥂
- Anton Roggo
