Vitamin E is a vital nutrient that acts an an antioxidant. According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin E occurs naturally in many foods and is added to others. It can also be taken in capsule form as a dietary supplement. Its antioxidant activity helps to fight the damage to your body caused by free radicals, which occur naturally due to digestion and also are found in pollutants such as smog and cigarette smoke. The recommended intake of vitamin E for adults is 15mg per day.
Vegetables
According to the George Mateljan Foundation's World's Healthiest Foods website, vitamin E is found in high quantities in many vegetables. Spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens are very rich in naturally-occurring vitamin E. One cup of boiled spinach has nearly 19 percent while 1 cup of boiled mustard greens has almost 15 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin E. Other vegetables that are good sources of vitamin E include Brussels sprouts, kale, tomatoes, red bell peppers and broccoli.
Legumes, Nuts and Seeds
One of the best sources of vitamin E is sunflower seeds. Just 1/4 cup of raw sunflower seeds has 90.4 percent of the RDA for vitamin E. Almonds are also relatively high in vitamin E, with 1/4 cup having 44 percent of the RDA. According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, other nuts and nut products that are good sources of vitamin E include peanuts, hazelnuts and peanut butter.
Fruits
Many fruits are also good sources of vitamin E, although they are not as high in this nutrient as some legumes and certain vegetables. Fruits that have a relatively high content of vitamin E include blueberries, which have 7 percent of the RDA of vitamin E in 1 cup and papaya, having 17 percent of the RDA for vitamin E in one fruit, according to The World's Healthiest Foods website. According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, fruits such as kiwi and mango have about 5 percent of the RDA of vitamin E. One cup of olives, a fruit often confused for a vegetable, have 20 percent of the RDA of vitamin E.
Oils
One tbsp. of wheat germ oil has 100 percent of the RDA of vitamin E. Other oils that have high vitamin E content include sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil and soybean oil, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
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