Vitamin E is an essential vitamin, which means that the body cannot produce it so it must be taken from dietary sources. Vitamin E is a vitamin fat-soluble and in the body is located mainly in the cell membranes. The term "vitamin E" is actually a generic term for a group of complex chemicals called tocotrienols and tocopherols, including alpha -, beta -, gamma-and delta-tocopherol, alpha-tocopherol is the most abundant.
To understand how antioxidants, you must first understand what free radicals are and how they work in the body. Free radicals are toxic compounds which are naturally produced in the body as a by-product of the oxidation metabolic. Free radicals are formed when an electron is negatively charged is lost by their chemical structure. The result is a renegade unstable that it destroys the tissue to the research of a free electron.
In excess, can be extremely harmful because they have the ability to attract the electrons from the membranes of body cells resulting in harmful effects, in addition to the inability of the cell to function properly. Free radicals are produced in excessive quantities by the exposure to air pollution or water, toxic chemicals, or smoke cigarettes, so you basically from the simple life of every day.
The most effective way to counteract the damaging effects of free radicals is to "stabilize them" or "neutralize them". This is where antioxidants play a role. Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, are powerful agents in neutralizing free radicals. Stop the harmful actions of free radicals before they have a chance to attack the cells of the body and exert their harmful effects by sacrificing himself and giving a free electron to the free radical, thus stabilizing the structure. This is extremely important because it is believed that free radical damage plays a role in many conditions such as premature aging, cancer, coronary heart disease, cataracts and a host of other degenerative diseases. To really help the effect of antioxidants, take vitamin C in combination with vitamin E.
A second function of vitamin E is its ability to reduce the severity of inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, as well as premenstrual syndrome and irregularities in blood circulation such as cramps in the legs at night.
Third, the vitamin E has the ability to stop the conversion of nitrites, found in foods, smoked, pickled, and seasoned, in the nitrosamines in the stomach. Nitrosamines are found to be strong promoters of cancer cancer.
Finally, vitamin E has been shown to slow the growth of smooth muscle cells, which are involved in the development of atherosclerosis. This is a very important area of research on vitamin E that deserves further discussion.
