Gastritis refers to a group of conditions that have one characteristic in common — inflammation of the stomach lining. Inflammation is often caused by an infection, injury, drinking a lot of alcohol or taking certain pain relievers regularly. Vitamin E refers to a group of fat-soluble nutrients with antioxidant properties that protect cells in the body from damage that occurs naturally with age. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, under certain circumstances, antioxidant vitamins, including vitamin E, may help prevent gastritis.
Types
There are two types of gastritis. The Cleveland Clinic reports that acute gastritis, which is the most common, affects eight out of every 1,000 people and occurs suddenly without warning. Chronic gastritis, which affects two out of every 1,000 people, occurs slowly over time. Both types can lead to ulcers and increase your risk for stomach cancer. In many instances, helicobacter pylori, or H. pylori, which is a bacteria that lives in the mucous in the lining of the stomach, is to blame.
Vitamin E and H. Pylori
In animal studies, use of vitamin E to reduce the H. pylori bacteria has shown some promise. A 2005 study published in the journal “Helicobacter” found that antioxidant vitamins, including vitamin E, offer some short-term protection from gastritis caused by the H. pylori bacteria. A year later, in a study published in the journal “BioFactors,” researchers from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan also found that vitamin E has a protective effect on gastric disorders caused by H. pylori, again, in animal models.
In Humans
“The Encyclopedia of Vitamin E,” edited by Victor Preedy and Ronald Ross Watson, explains that a prevailing belief is that low levels of vitamin E increase your risk of gastric disorders, especially those that can lead to stomach cancers. While the animal studies performed in 2005 and 2006, as well as a variety of others, found that vitamin E protects against the H. pylori infection in animals, human studies are producing different results. In a 2002 study published in “Helicobacter,” researchers found that vitamin E supplementation does not successfully eradicate gastric inflammation in humans. That same year, researchers from the General Infirmary at Leeds in Britain published a study in the “British Journal of Nutrition” indicating that in humans, vitamin E supplements do not protect against H. pylori-induced gastritis.
Considerations
While vitamin E may not eradicate H. pylori, one study found that it may reduce the severity of gastritis. Published in 2000 in the journal “Annals of Epidemiology,” researchers from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center found that vitamin E may reduce the severity of gastritis in patients and that the antioxidant nutrient is “potentially important for the prevention of gastric cancer.”
References
- “Biofactors”; Influence Of Vitamin E On Gastric Mucosal Injury Induced By Helicobacter Pylori Infection; Sugimoto N; 2006
- “Helicobacter”; Effects of Antioxidant Vitamin Supplements on Helicobacter Pylori-Induced Gastritis in Mongolian Gerbils; Sun YQ; February 2005
- “The Encyclopedia of Vitamin E”; Victor R. Preedy, Ronald Ross Watson; CABI Publishing; 2007
- “Helicobacter”; Vitamin C and E Supplements to Lansoprazole-Amoxicillin-Metronidazole Triple Therapy May Reduce the Eradication Rate of Metronidazole-Susceptible Helicobacter Pylori Infection; Chiao-Hsiung Chuang; October 2002
- “British Journal of Nutrition”; Antioxidant Vitamin Supplements do not Reduce Reactive Oxygen Species Activity Helicobacter Pylori Gastritis in the Short Term; Everett SM; January 2002
- “Annals of Epidemiology”; Association of Dietary Antioxidants on the Severity of Gastritis in a High Risk Population; LJ Su; October 2000
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Gastritis; September 2009
- Mayo Clinic: Gastritis; April 2011
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin E
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