Natural vitamin E is produced by green plants. Synthetic vitamin E is produced in a laboratory. You might think that the synthetic vitamin E you get from dietary supplements and fortified foods is the same as natural vitamin E. Not exactly. The Office of Dietary Supplements says you need almost twice as much synthetic vitamin E to meet the dietary requirements for natural vitamin E and to protect your health from free radicals.
Natural Vitamin E
Natural vitamin E is a mixture of four tocopherols and four tocotrienols found in the tissues of green plants. Of the eight naturally occurring compounds, alpha-tocopherol is the major form of vitamin E in green plants and it has the highest biological activity. Alpha-tocopherol is the only form your body recognizes and uses to meet your daily requirements for vitamin E. Natural vitamin E is listed as international units, or IU, which is the measurement of biological activity. The recommended daily amount, or RDA, is for the natural form of vitamin E. You will find natural vitamin E labeled as d-alpha-tocopherol.
Synthetic Vitamin E
Synthetic vitamin E is a mixture of tocopherols and tocotrienols produced in a laboratory. Synthetic vitamin E has the same molecular structure but different spatial arrangements so it is not as effective as natural vitamin E. You will find synthetic vitamin E in dietary supplements and fortified foods labeled as dl-alpha-tocopherol. The RDA for natural vitamin E is 15 mg or 22.4 IU. The Office of Dietary Supplements says you need more synthetic vitamin E to get the same amount of natural vitamin E. To meet the RDA requirement of 15 mg of natural vitamin E, you need 33.3 IU of synthetic vitamin. This is calculated by multiplying 15 mg by 2.22 IU/mg of dl-alpha-tocopherol equals 33.3 IU.
Absorption
Natural and synthetic vitamin E is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and then taken up by the liver and transfers it into your bloodstream. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin so your gastrointestinal tract needs fat to absorb vitamin E. If you have had weight loss surgery, such as a gastric bypass or inherited a disorder that prevents you from absorbing fat, you may become deficient in vitamin E and other fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant and a deficiency could weaken your immune system.
Wheat Germ Oil
Wheat germ oil provides the highest amount of natural vitamin E. Each 1 tbsp. gives you 20.3 mg of d-alpha-tocopherol which is more than 100 percent of the RDA. Next on the list are dry-roasted almonds, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and dry-roasted hazelnuts which gives you from 7.4 mg to 4.3 mg of natural vitamin E. Foods that provide a moderate amount, 10 to 20 percent RDA, of natural vitamin E are peanut butter, dry-roasted peanuts, corn oil and cooked spinach. It is best you get vitamin E from plant foods because they contain other naturally occurring substances that can benefit your health.
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