Review Says Vitamin E Overdoses Unlikely

Mechanisms exist to prevent excess vitamin E intake, according to a review published in the Journal of Lipid Research. The review challenges popular theories that too much vitamin E intake can be harmful to the body.

Vitamin E is the collective name for a group of fat-soluble nutrients that act as antioxidants and nutrients for organ, nerve, and muscle function. The vitamin E review, written by Maret Traber of Oregon State University, details two systems in the liver that regulate vitamin E levels in the body and will excrete any vitamin E excess. Because these symptoms are in place, Traber says toxic levels of vitamin E just do not occur.

“Taking too much vitamin E is not the real concern,” says Traber. “A much more important issue is that more than 90 percent of people in the United States have inadequate levels of vitamin E in their diet.”