Low fat and tocopherols

[Ron Put]

I have been thinking about absorption today, too. Just looked at my numbers for the last four weeks and wondering if it may be worth taking a low dose E-complex supplement.

I take B12 (1000) and D3 (2000) (my last test was low on D and at the lower end for B12, and I am genetically predisposed to somewhat lower absorption of both). I also started taking k2 (MK-71 100 and MK4 250). And for good measure, started on MNM 125, since I can't get that much from food.

So, now I am thinking if E-complex may be beneficial. Do many here take it as a supplement?

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by Ron Put

[mccoy]

8 hours ago, Ron Put said:

So, now I am thinking if E-complex may be beneficial. Do many here take it as a supplement?

That would constitute a very cautious preventive measure since you average 110%  and that should satisfy the requirements of over 98% of the population. Also there are fats in your diet and probably some of your tocopherols come from the omega-6 sources.

Again, if you want to be extra cautious you might heed Chris Masterjohn's tips which I posted successively, he suggests Jarrow Tocosorb for moderate deficits

 

Edited July 15, 2019 by mccoy

[mccoy]

These are some excerpts from Chirs Mastejohn's excellent e-book: Testing nutritional status. It's relatively unexpensive and well worth its price IMO.

Quote

Vitamins A, D, E, and K are all fat-soluble. Dietary fat enhances their absorption, but we never
absorb as little as zero or as much as 100% no matter how much fat we eat. For example, we
will absorb about 10% of the vitamin E from a fat-free meal, and we will absorb 33% from a meal
Copyright © Chris Masterjohn, 2019. This is an educational resource and is not to be construed in any way as medical or nutritional advice or training. Always ask your doctor
about taking any health-related measures and never ignore professional medical advice on the basis of anything contained herein.
containing 21% of calories as fat. There is not enough data to justify an algorithm such as “x%
will be absorbed for every gram of dietary fat.” However, the effect can be large, so we should
assume that deficiencies are more likely on low-fat diets than on moderate- or high-fat diets.
Nevertheless, if we eat a low-fat diet, we can still obtain enough fat-soluble vitamins simply by
eating foods with a larger amount of vitamins to compensate for a lower rate of absorption.

Quote

Risk Factors for Deficiency: Vitamin E’s only well established role is to protect
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from a process known as lipid peroxidation, which is a form
of oxidative damage. Moderate vitamin E deficiency has been produced experimentally in
humans by feeding rancid corn oil. This oil is high in PUFAs, stripped of vitamin E, and high in
lipid peroxidation byproducts, which raise the need for vitamin E. Moderate deficits of vitamin E
are most likely to occur on diets that cause tissue concentrations of PUFA to increase without a
proportionate increase in vitamin E. Most high-PUFA oils are rich in vitamin E. However, years
of consuming them can cause tissue concentrations of PUFA to remain elevated for up to four
years after one stops consuming them. By contrast, vitamin E levels drop very soon after
discontinuing these oils. This may cause an extended period where dietary vitamin E is
inadequate to protect tissue concentrations. As an example, someone who eats sunflower oil
(high in PUFA and vitamin E) for years and then switches to coconut oil (low in PUFA and low in
vitamin E) may spend up to four years in a moderate vitamin E deficit because coconut oil does
not provide enough vitamin E to protect the fatty acids that came from the sunflower oil.

Quote

Correcting Vitamin E Deficiency: Frank vitamin E deficiency only occurs with malabsorption
disorders or defects in alpha-tocopherol transfer protein, and these must be managed with
appropriate medical treatment. I recommend one Jarrow Tocosorb per day with the largest or
highest-fat meal to correct more moderate deficits. If you are transitioning from years of
high-PUFA oils, I recommend using this proactively for four years.

 

[Ron Put]

Thanks, mccoy! It makes sense.

The Mastejohn's book looks interesting, I will get it :)

I get most of my tocopherols from broccoli sprouts and red bell peppers. I just hope the broccoli sprouts data is correct, because it sounds a little too good to be true.

I also eat "raw" (supposedly exposed to 118°F max) cacao nibs which should also provide some tocopherols, although I have not been able find reliable numbers on cacao nibs, which is puzzling to me. My daily intake of steel cut oats should provide some tocotrienols, too.

My top source of Omega-6 is walnuts, with flaxseed second. But walnuts are nowhere to be seen in the top Vitamin E table, even though I know they provide some gamma-tocopherol.

Edited July 15, 2019 by Ron Put

[mccoy]

On 7/15/2019 at 7:26 PM, Ron Put said:

I get most of my tocopherols from broccoli sprouts and red bell peppers. I just hope the broccoli sprouts data is correct, because it sounds a little too good to be true

AFAIK, in some instances the databases upon which cronometer is linked  provide an average of various analyses. It would depends on the data analyzed, you can enquire in the cronometer forum, at times I received pretty knowledgeable answers.

Edited July 17, 2019 by mccoy