Vitamin+E-Latoya

=**Vitamin E**= Vitamin E is well known for helping with skin issues, anemia, and preventing cancer of the lungs and heart disease. More recently, Athletes have begun taking Vitamin E as an aid to help with the cell damage that is caused during training and competition. Here we will discuss Vitamin E, the full package, and see just what this vitamin is, where it can be found, what if any regulations are imposed on it, what it does in the body, and what recent research has discovered about it.

**Defined: **
Also know as Alpha-tocopherol, is an antioxidant that binds free radicals that can cause tissue damage.

**Uses by Athletes: **
Vitamins function as metabolic regulators, Vitamin E is no exception to that rule. Vitamin E enhances oxygen utilization.(Jissn) Endurance and high intensity athletes take Vitamin E to speed up recovery. It has been said that Vitamin E can aid with muscle fatigue, preventing cell damage, and improving overall performance. Endurance athletes, like long distance runners, cause a lot of strain on the cells in the body. The oxidative stress that their body undergoes has the ability to be reduced by Vitamin E.

**Origin:**
Vitamin E can be found in a number of foods. Seeds, nuts, and the oils of vegetables, green leafy vegetables, and fortified cereal are noted as the best sources of vitamin E in the human diet. When dealing with supplements as sources of Vitamin E they tend to have much more than the daily recommended value. Vitamin E can be consumed in the for you eat, in the form of a pill (usually liquid-gel form), or as an oil. Ingestion and as a topical applicant are the two ways the body intakes Vitamin E. There are also synthetic forms of Vitamin E which must be taken in higher doses to equal the amount needed from natural sources. Recommended intake of Vitamin E is 15mg a day for adults. Deficiency of Vitamin E is rare because the body stores excess Vitamin E in the fat cells. Supplements often contain 100mg to 200mg, which is much more than than the body needs. Toxicity of Vitamin E causes oxidative damage to the cells.



**Obtainability:**
Food sources of Vitamin E prices range $0.68/pound to $8.00. Supplements can range from $10.00 to $30.00. And pure Vitamin E oils can range from $10.00 to upwards of $120.00 depending on the brand, quality, and quantity of the oil. These foods, pills, and oils can be found at any grocery store, health food store, and/or online. They are not hard to find. However, it is said that most athletes do not consume enough VitaminE in just their diet alone. Supplements are a more effective way to reach the level of intake that has an impact on oxidative damage.

**NCAA Regulation:**
There are no specific guidelines and/or regulations for Vitamin E supplements. NCAA does however, issue a warning that states "Before consuming any nutritional/dietary supplement product, review the product with the appropriate or designated athletics department staff!" They also warn that Some supplements are not well regulated which may cause positive drug test result. Although there is nothing that indicates that Vitamin E would cause a positive drug test result there is always the possibility of the supplement being contaminated with a banned substance. NCAA says that athletes must take supplements at their own risk.

** Physiology: **
Vitamin E is a fat soluble anti-oxidant. An anti-oxidant functions to remove potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism. So Vitamin E helps to protect against cell membrane weakness. Vitamin E is absorbed in the small intestines and transported in the blood through the lymphatic system. It can take several hours to absorb and is excreted through the feces. Vitamin E levels are high in fat tissue and in the adrenal gland on the surface of the cells. Vitamin E neutralizes free radicals attempt to damage the cells, thus causing less damage and shortening the healing process. Vitamin E is essential to the body's immune system.

**Research:**
Research has shown that athletes that engage in endurance events cause more free radical production in the body. Vitamin E has shown to prevent the damage that the free radicals cause. It is stated that supplements can that contain 100-200mg of Vitamin E can be recommended to prevent exercise induced oxidative damage and to reap the full benefits of exercise. (NCBI) In another study where they has 22 runners that were the subject of the study. Half of them were given 1,000mg of vitamin c and 400UI of vitamin E for six weeks prior to their race. The results showed clearly showed that the athletes on the vitamins biomarkers were maintaining at normal while the athletes that were not taking the supplements biomarkers were reported at levels that are like that of someone who has had a heart attack.(Nutraingredients) Clearly in this study the use of Vitamin E (along with Vitamin C) showed significant improvements in endurance athletes. But with every confirmation there must be a rebuttal. There are several studies on the effectiveness of Vitamin E and its effectiveness for athletes. Not all have come up with the same results. Another study states that although Vitamin E may increase tissue or serum Vitamin E concentration, most evidence suggests there is no discernible effect on training,performance, or rate of post-exercise recovery in either recreational or elite athletes. (jissn)



**References:**
http://www.ncaa.org/health-and-safety/policy/2014-15-ncaa-banned-drugs http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15295 https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminE-HealthProfessional/#h3 https://www.uic.edu/classes/phar/phar332/Clinical_Cases/vitamin%20cases/vitamin%20E/Vitamin%20E%20Chemistry.htm http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Vitamin-E-benefits-athlete-recovery-further-antioxidant-evidence http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10701711 http://www.jissn.com/content/1/2/1