Popping lots of vitamin E seemed the right thing to do to help protect your heart and ward off cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. But too much is not necessarily good. Startling new studies has revealed that in large doses the vitamin may shorten life rather than prolong it. It seemed that as vitamin E had wonderful powers and low toxicity it became the darling of nutrition researchers. However after analyzing 19 studies involving nearly 136,000 people researchers discovered that those who consumed more than 400IU of vitamin E a day were more likely to die within a 5-year span by as much as 5%.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant which selectively protects against harmful molecules and is referred to as a free-radical. Studies show that too much of one antioxidant may crowd others out. The daily recommended dose of 150-200 IU’s is still, according to the experts, beneficial and safe.

Vitamin E can be obtained from a healthy diet and sources such as nuts, cooking oil, fish, eggs and fortified cereals, plus a low-dose multivitamin. Having said that the dosage offered through taking a vitamin E supplement equals up to 3 times more than the foods listed. Even eating sunflower seeds, which are high in E, would still require you to supplement.