Vitamin E: A primer for clinicians

How much vitamin E do we need?

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin E for adults is 15 mg/day, though there is considerable uncertainty as to whether this estimate is correct (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements).

Note: The FDA has mandated changes in product labeling from IUs to mg. Conversion between IUs and mg is as follows (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements):

1 IU of the synthetic form is equivalent to 0.45 mg of alpha-tocopherol.

Several national surveys have found that most persons in the USA take less than the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin E though, due to uncertainty about the amounts of cooking oil used, the surveys may have underestimated how much vitamin E was in the diet of respondents (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements). This is particularly a concern for persons taking a low-fat diet because cooking oils contain significant quantities of vitamin E.

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Good dietary sources of vitamin E

Some of the best dietary sources of vitamin E are:

1. Various cooking oils

2. Seeds and nuts

3. Green leafy vegetables

Here are some examples of the vitamin E content of these foods:

Sunflower seeds, 1 ounce (dry, roasted): 7.5 mg (half of the RDA for adults)

Almonds 1 ounce (dry, roasted): 7 mg

Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons: 3 mg

Peanuts, 1 ounce (dry, roasted): 2 mg

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Vitamin E in commonly used multivitamins

The amount of vitamin E (in mg) contained in some common multivitamin brands in the US is close to the RDA of 15 mg per day:

Centrum Adults®: 13.5 mg

Kirkland Signature Daily Multi®: 13.5 mg

One-a-Day Men’s Health Formula® (the brand that I take): 10 mg

One-a-Day Women’s Formula®: 7.5 mg

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References

National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin E: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Available at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminE-HealthProfessional/. Accessed July 5, 2020.

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