Vitamin E Sources: What is Vitamin E
You’ve heard of vitamin E, right? Did you know that it’s a nutrient that’s found in many foods and it acts as if it was a personal antioxidant in your body to help protect cells from harm? Vitamin E protects your body from things that are called “free radicals” which are formed when your body converts what you eat into energy. Sometimes your body can be vitamin E deficient and your body needs it to make sure that the fat from what you eat is absorbed correctly. Although deficiency of vitamin E is uncommon, we’re going to walk you through the symptoms of vitamin E deficiency.
Learn more information on Vitamin E, here!
Vitamin E sources are many and you may be consuming them without even knowing it. They’re foods that contain fat, but healthy fat and some examples are nuts, avocados, vegetable oils, fish, dark leafy greens and seeds are all vitamin E sources.
Vitamin E Deficiency Symptoms
Doctors are able to test individuals for their vitamin E levels through a blood test. Although deficiency is not common, finding out about low levels of vitamin E could mean there’s an underlying cause. You may decide to speak to your doctor about symptoms of vitamin E deficiency if you notice some of the following problems.
- Vision Deterioration – One of the vitamin E deficiency symptoms can be the weakening of the light receptors in the retina in the eye. Without proper treatment or diagnosis, this weakening can cause vision loss throughout the years.
- Difficulty Walking / Coordination – Another one of the possible vitamin E deficiency symptoms is loss of coordination and walking. This happens because specific neurons are affected by the deficiency and begin to break down causing the transmission of signals to be stopped or slowed.
- Weakness of Muscles – Vitamin E is a necessary element to the central nervous system and symptoms of vitamin e deficiency can emerge when oxidative stress occurs due to the lack of vitamin E. As it is a natural antioxidant in the body, when it is lacking it causes the muscles to become weak.
- Numbness / Tingling – As stated before, vitamin E deficiency can lead to the slowing of the transmission of signals which can lead to nerve damage in fibers in the body. When fibers are damaged, the body isn’t able to transmit signals correctly making parts of the body feel numb or tingly.
- Immune System Problems – although this symptoms isn’t as noticeable as others, studies suggest that deficiency of vitamin E can cause damage to the immune cells, especially in older adults.
It should be noted that whenever you notice changes in your body it’s best to speak to a doctor about the changes that you notice. This helps to make sure that what you are noticing is not a sign of something else.
What Causes Vitamin E Deficiency?
We know that vitamin e deficiency isn’t common, but it does happen. What are some of the causes of vitamin E deficiency?
- Genetics & Medical Conditions
Vitamin E deficiency can often run in families. If you are unaware of your family history, learning about it can help when it comes to diagnosing diseases as well as making yourself aware of things that could be inherited.
Other causes of vitamin E deficiency can come from specific medical conditions that reduce the absorption of fat into the body meaning the absorption of vitamin e also decreases. These specific diseases are:
- Cystic fibrosis
- Cholestatic liver disease
- Celiac disease
- Chronic pancreatitis
Not to mention, vitamin E deficiency is also common in infants and new born babies who are under weight. This happens because they have less fat to help absorb the vitamin e. Doctors are aware of how to work with new born babies to ensure that although their vitamin E may be low now, it doesn’t always have to be that way.
Taking care of your body means regular visits to the doctor and making sure to let them know about any changes you notice. Changes don’t mean that something is wrong, but keeping on top of your health is the way to avoid problems in the future.