Vitamin E-mazing Food to Keep You Healthy

No Comments | Written on May 2, 2012 at 11:00 am, by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

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Although popping handfuls of vitamins may seem like a sure way to turbo-charge your health, you’re almost always better off getting your nutrients from foods, not pills. A new study published in Cancer Prevention Research is a perfect example of why. Although the kind of vitamin E found in foods shows a lot of potential as a natural way to stave off cancer, the kind found in supplements doesn’t seem to offer any benefit at all. (In fact, it may do more harm than good!)

Most vitamin E supplements contain alpha-tocopherol, one of several compounds that are collectively known as “vitamin E.” But the true disease-fighting potential of vitamin E kicks in only when the entire family of compounds is present. So skip the vitamins and try instead to include vitamin E-rich foods, which provide the whole range of healthy compounds. Best bets include almonds, hazelnuts, avocados, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and edamame.