Supplementing vitamin E helps prevent vitamin E deficiency. Most vitamin E supplements contain only ᴅ-alpha-tocopherol, and often the synthetic form. At New Roots Herbal, there is much more to vitamin E than ᴅ-alpha-tocopherol: There are eight compounds that make up the vitamin E family; four tocopherols and four tocotrienols, extracted from vegetable oils that are present in their natural, fully active, unesterified form. Our food contains all eight compounds, and this is the form our bodies have been processing since the beginning of time.
Vitamin E is an antioxidant and a factor in the maintenance of good health. The eight members of the vitamin E family have varied functions. For example, gamma-tocopherol has a greater ability to detoxify nitrogen radicals.