Posted by Larry Hoover on December 17, 2004, at 15:09:41 [reposted on December 17, 2004, at 19:38:42 | original URL]
In reply to TO ED UK, posted by Jeroen on December 17, 2004, at 11:58:21
> hi, i have a question about vitamin E is it safe to take 1600 MG a day, on each package it sais in IU not MG but im unsure of my calculations,
> each vitamine E pill is 250 IU so how much should i take for 1600 MG?
> i hope you can help me thanks!
>
>
> International Units (IU) are an old terminology used to state the potency of vitamins A, D and E before vitamins were manufactured in a pure enough form to be measured by weight.
>
> One IU of Vitamin A = 0.3 micrograms
>
> One IU of Vitamin D = 0.025 micrograms
>
> One IU of Vitamin E = 0.67 milligramsHmmm. The conversion I have is that 1 IU of d-,l-alphatocopherol is 1 mg.
At the ratio I've been using, six caps would fairly closely approximate the intended dose. However, recent concerns have been raised about synthetic vitamin E supplements. The synthetic vitamin E is called alpha-tocopherol, or d-,l-alphatocopherol. There are six other structures which we collectively call vitamin E, and it has recently been shown that supplementing alphatocopherol leads to long-term problems with gammatocopherol function in the body, as the alpha is quite capable of displacing the gamma, but incapable of doing the job of gamma.
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041108/msgs/417176.html
So, the answer to your question has two components. You may increase some health risks by supplementing with 1600 mg of alphatocopherol. However, if you use a similar amount of "mixed tocopherols" or "natural vitamin E with gamma-tocopherol" or some similar declaration on the label (make sure it contains gamma-tocopherol; beta- and delta-tocopherol of unknown function, but probably beneficial), you will be doing yourself a world of good. Better yet, if the product also contains tocotrienols (eight of those structures, too).
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:430827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041212/msgs/431019.html