VEGANALYZEDaily Vitamin E Requirement
Vitamin E is exclusively produced by plants. For this reason, the daily requirement of vitamin E can be easily met through a vegan diet. This is supported by numerous study findings, which show that vegans have the highest vitamin E intake levels 1 2 3. There are a total of eight vitamin E compounds, with alpha-tocopherol being the most active in the body. Therefore, the required amounts are partially based on α-tocopherol. The table showing foods containing vitamin E is available.
Daily Vitamin E Requirements for the United States
For the United States, the following values have been provided as daily recommended intake of vitamin E by the NIH 4.
| Gender and Age Group | Amount in mg |
|---|---|
| Men | |
| ≥ 19 years | 15 |
| Women | |
| ≥ 19 years | 15 |
| Pregnant ≥ 19 years | 15 |
| Breastfeeding ≥ 19 years | 19 |
| Children / Adolescents | |
| 0 to 6 months | 4 |
| 7 to 12 months | 5 |
| 1 to 3 years | 6 |
| 4 to 8 years | 7 |
| 9 to 13 years | 11 |
| Boys 14 to 18 years | 15 |
| Girls 14 to 18 years | 15 |
| Pregnant, 14 to 18 years | 15 |
| Breastfeeding, 14 to 18 years | 19 |
Requirements for polyunsaturated fatty acids
The vitamin E requirement increases with higher consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids according to 5. This is based on the fact that vitamin E (α-tocopherol) acts as an antioxidant and protects polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), lipoproteins such as LDL, as well as cellular and intracellular membranes from damage. Scientists suggest that for every 1g of linoleic acid (the most consumed PUFA), approximately 0.4 to 0.6mg of α-tocopherol should be consumed, resulting in a daily requirement of 12 to 20mg of α-tocopherol.
Do athletes have a higher vitamin E requirement?
According to current research, vitamin E does not improve athletic performance 6 7.
Other scientists cannot recommend a higher intake of vitamin E and vitamin C in relation to exercise performance and redox homeostasis (oxidative and reductive reactions of a cell at a given time) in healthy trained individuals based on conflicting study results 8.
On the other hand, older study results suggest a higher consumption of vitamin E to reduce oxidative damage caused by exercise 9 10 11.