Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that protects the fats in cell membranes from damage. Adults need about 15 mg a day, and nuts, seeds and plant oils supply most of it.
15 mga day for adults, US RDA
12 mg on EU food labels (NRV), the figure behind label percentages
Upper limit · 300 mg (EU) or 1,000 mg (US) a day from supplements
- Most per 100 g 149mg Wheat germ oil
- Most per portion 6.7mg 1 handful almonds
- Main sources Nuts, seeds and oils then fish, avocado and greens
- Synthetic form Half as active as natural, mg for mg
Daily amount: the US RDA for adults aged 19 and over (NIH). Food figures are alpha-tocopherol per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central.
Foods High in Vitamin E
Ranked per 100 g, with what a usual portion gives, limited to 3 foods per category. Foods with a Caltide calorie page link to it.
W
Wheat germ oil
21 mg in 1 tablespoon
149mg / 100 g
S
Sunflower oil
9.6 mg in 1 tablespoon
68.5mg / 100 g
S
Safflower oil
6.4 mg in 1 tablespoon
46mg / 100 g
S
Sunflower seeds
38 mg in 1 cup
26.1mg / 100 g
A
Almonds
6.7 mg in 1 handful
Nutrition facts
23.9mg / 100 g
M
Mixed seeds
29 mg in 1 cup
19.7mg / 100 g
V
Vegan sausage (tofu)
7.8mg / 100 g
E
Escargot
7.2mg / 100 g
F
Fish finger
1.4 mg in 1 stick
6.9mg / 100 g
O
Olive tapenade
0.98 mg in 1 tablespoon
6.1mg / 100 g
B
Black olives
6.1mg / 100 g
A
Abalone
8 mg in 1 cup
6mg / 100 g
Per 100 g vs. a Usual Portion
Why the food that ranks first per 100 g can give less in a real serving.
| Food | Usual portion | Per 100 g | Per portion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almonds | 1 handful (28 g) | 23.9mg | 6.7mg |
| Olive oil | 1 tablespoon (14 g) | 20.9mg | 2.9mg |
| Peanut butter | 2 tablespoons (32 g) | 9.1mg | 2.9mg |
| Salmon | 1 fillet (125 g) | 4.1mg | 5.1mg |
| Avocado | half an avocado (68 g) | 2.1mg | 1.4mg |
| Spinach | 1 cup, raw (30 g) | 2mg | 0.61mg |
A handful of almonds is the easiest way to a large share of the day. Oils rank high per 100 g, but a tablespoon is only 14 g, so the amount on the plate depends on how much you pour.
What Is Vitamin E?
Vitamin E is the name for eight related compounds, four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Only one of them, alpha-tocopherol, counts toward human needs, because the liver has a transport protein that picks it out and sends it into the blood. The others are mostly broken down and removed.
The Eight Forms of Vitamin E: Tocopherols and Tocotrienols
Each family comes in four versions, named alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Tocopherols have a saturated tail; tocotrienols have an unsaturated one. They are all antioxidants in a test tube, but daily needs, food labels and upper limits are set for alpha-tocopherol alone.
| Form | Main food sources | Counts toward your daily need |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha-tocopherol | Sunflower seeds and oil, almonds, hazelnuts, wheat germ oil, olive oil | Yes, the only form that does |
| Gamma-tocopherol | Soybean and corn oil, and the foods made with them | No. It is the most common form in the US diet, but the liver sends little of it into the blood |
| Beta- and delta-tocopherol | Smaller amounts in the same seed oils, delta mostly in soybean oil | No |
| Tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) | Palm oil, rice bran oil, barley and oats | No. Sold as supplements, but human evidence for benefits is limited |
The food figures on this page are alpha-tocopherol only, the way USDA reports vitamin E. That is why soybean oil, rich in gamma-tocopherol, ranks lower here than its total vitamin E content would suggest. A supplement labeled mixed tocopherols adds the other forms, but its vitamin E amount on the label still counts only the alpha part.
What Vitamin E Does
Cell membranes are built from fats, and the polyunsaturated ones are easily damaged by free radicals, unstable molecules made during normal metabolism and by smoke and pollution. Vitamin E sits inside the membrane and stops that damage from spreading from one fat molecule to the next. Vitamin E also takes part in immune function and helps keep blood vessels relaxed and platelets from clumping.
Once vitamin E has stopped a free radical, it is used up until another antioxidant restores it. Vitamin C is one of the main ones that does.
Food Sources of Vitamin E
Because vitamin E protects fats, it is found where plants store fat: nuts, seeds and the oils pressed from them. According to the NIH, a tablespoon of wheat germ oil has about 20 mg and an ounce of dry-roasted sunflower seeds about 7.4 mg. In the US diet, the most common form is gamma-tocopherol from soybean and corn oil, but the body keeps little of it.
Vitamin E in a Day of Food, With and Without Nuts
One ordinary day built only from foods in the Caltide food library, in usual portions, with one handful of almonds as a snack. No supplements.
| Meal | Food | Amount | Vitamin E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Oats | 40g | 0.17mg |
| Snack | Almonds | 28g | 6.7mg |
| Lunch | Egg | 50g | 0.52mg |
| Lunch | Spinach | 30g | 0.61mg |
| Lunch | Olive oil | 14g | 2.9mg |
| Dinner | Salmon | 125g | 5.1mg |
| Dinner | Potato | 200g | 0.08mg |
| Dinner | Broccoli | 76g | 0.11mg |
| Total | 16mg |
Take away the almonds and the day falls from 16 mg to 9.3 mg, below the 15 mg the US sets.
What Large Vitamin E Trials Found
Because vitamin E is an antioxidant, it was long expected to prevent heart disease and cancer. Large randomized trials did not find that. In the SELECT trial of about 35,000 men, 400 IU a day of synthetic vitamin E raised the risk of prostate cancer by 17%.
Who Is Most Likely to Be Low in Vitamin E
Vitamin E needs fat to be absorbed, so true deficiency mostly appears in people who cannot absorb fat: Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis and conditions that stop the liver releasing bile into the gut. A rare inherited defect in the liver's transport protein also causes it. Signs are nerve damage, loss of balance and coordination, muscle weakness and vision problems.
Vitamin E Supplements: IU to mg
Supplements are also a source of vitamin E, usually at many times the daily amount. The label shows which form is inside: d-alpha-tocopherol is natural, dl-alpha-tocopherol is synthetic.
| IU | Natural (d-alpha) | Synthetic (dl-alpha) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 67mg | 45mg |
| 200 | 134mg | 90mg |
| 400 | 268mg | 180mg |
| 1,000 | 670mg | 450mg |
A 400 IU capsule holds 180 to 268 mg, 12 to 18 times the 15 mg adults need. Products labeled mixed tocopherols also contain the other forms, which do not count toward the daily amount.
Vitamin E in Caltide
- Logged automaticallyCaltide adds up the vitamin E in every food you log from the food library and shows it against the amount for your age and sex in the Nutrition tab.
- Supplements count tooAdd your capsule once with its vitamin E in mg as an ingredient, converted from IU with the table above. Each day you tick it off, it counts toward your total.
Vitamin E Sources and References
The figures and claims on this page are checked against these sources. Food amounts come from USDA FoodData Central.
Questions About Vitamin E
Adults need 15 mg of alpha-tocopherol a day in the US. EFSA sets 13 mg for men and 11 mg for women, and the EU label reference is 12 mg.
Nuts, seeds and plant oils. In the Caltide food library, wheat germ oil has 149 mg per 100 g, then Sunflower oil (68.5 mg) and Safflower oil (46 mg). Wheat germ oil and sunflower seeds are among the richest of all.
It depends on the form. 1 IU of natural vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol) is 0.67 mg, and 1 IU of synthetic vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol) is 0.45 mg. Newer labels give mg directly.
Milligram for milligram, the natural form is about twice as active. Synthetic vitamin E is a mix of eight mirror-image forms, and only half of them are used by the body, so it takes about twice as many milligrams to match the natural form.
Yes, from supplements. The US upper limit is 1,000 mg a day and the EFSA limit is 300 mg. High doses can raise the risk of bleeding, especially with blood thinners. Food alone does not reach these amounts.
Large trials have not found that they do. In the SELECT trial, men who took 400 IU a day of synthetic vitamin E had a 17% higher risk of prostate cancer than men who took a placebo.
Both are families of four vitamin E forms, alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Tocopherols have a saturated tail and come mostly from nuts and seed oils; tocotrienols have an unsaturated tail and come from palm oil, rice bran, barley and oats. Only alpha-tocopherol counts toward your daily need.
Deficiency is rare in healthy people. It mostly affects people who cannot absorb fat, such as those with Crohn's disease or cystic fibrosis, and people with rare inherited conditions.
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