Vitamin E
What This Test Measures
Antioxidant, cardiovascular and skin health
Conventional vs. Functional Optimal Range
The gap between these ranges is why you feel terrible with "normal" labs. Conventional medicine waits for disease. Functional medicine optimizes for health.
Gabriel's Take
Vitamin E should be mid-range (8-15 mg/L). Deficiency is rare but causes oxidative stress and neuropathy. Integrative practitioners often prefer mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) to synthetic alpha-tocopherol alone. High-dose vitamin E supplements might raise the risk of bleeding in the brain (MedlinePlus). Gabriel checks Vitamin E in oxidative stress or cardiovascular cases.
When This Test Is High
Rare (supplementation toxicity)
When This Test Is Low
Deficiency: oxidative stress, neuropathy (rare)
Related Conditions
Oxidative stress, cardiovascular disease
Recommended Follow-Up
If low, ask a licensed clinician to look for the cause (fat malabsorption is the usual one) and the right dose. The adult RDA is 15 mg a day; the upper limit is 1,000 mg a day of supplemental vitamin E (National Academies), about 1,100 IU of synthetic or 1,500 IU of natural vitamin E. Routine high doses are not advised: in the SELECT trial, 400 IU a day of synthetic vitamin E raised prostate cancer risk by about 17% (NCI)