Can E Vitamins Help With Diabetes Also?

In researching ways to help control diabetes I ran across some nutritional supplements that may help control blood sugar and help manage diabetes. One of them is Vitamin E.

Vitamin E has been known for its antioxidant abilities, which seem to reduce the free radical damage that causes the complications of diabetes, like heart disease and nerve damage, which can lead to blindness and amputation. Research shows that daily nutritional supplements of vitamin E can really reduce the damage in diabetics that later on leads to cardiovascular disease. Seventy percent of deaths from diabetes are related to damaged and clogged arteries.

Recent studies have not confirmed vitamin E effectiveness in preventing cardiovascular disease, but most experts still believe it still may. From the FDA's website: "Some scientific evidence suggests that consumption of antioxidant vitamins may reduce the risk of certain forms of cancer. However, FDA has determined that this evidence is limited and not conclusive." There is also evidence suggesting specific benefit in managing diabetes.

Ishwarlal Jialal, MD, PhD, professor of internal medicine and pathology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas found that giving 1,200 IU of E Vitamins a day to people with diabetes greatly reduced the tendency of LDL cholesterol to begin creating a buildup of fat and other debris on artery walls.

Since it's impossible to get such large amounts of E from your diet, "it's not unreasonable to take an E supplement," he says. Diabetes experts recommend 600 IU of E a day.

There are two types of vitamin E, natural (d-alpha tocopherol) and synthetic (dl-alpha tocopherol). Milligram for milligram, natural is more potent, so it takes less to get the same benefit. Vitamin E can be found in single ingredient supplements, multivitamins, and herbal preparations. But large doses are generally found as single-ingredient nutritional supplements.

The National Institute of Health lists good ways to get Vitamin E from foods. In addition food manufacturers fortify many products with vitamins and minerals. It is important to read the nutrition facts panel of the food label to determine whether a food provides vitamin E. Here is a short list from National Institutes of Health of foods containing vitamin e:

Wheat germ
Corn
Nuts
Seeds
Olives
Spinach and other green leafy vegetables
Asparagus
Vegetable oils -- corn, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed
Products made from these foods, such as margarine, also contain vitamin E.

P.S. I almost forgot. If you would like to check out more supplements online, click here