# Vitamin E

Category: Vitamins & Minerals

Also known as: tocopherol, alpha-tocopherol

Vitamin E is fundamentally an anti-estrogenic, anti-inflammatory, and pro-respiratory substance whose primary protective effects are not reducible to simple antioxidant activity. Peat argued that its therapeutic power—including clot-clearing and quinone-reactive properties—was…

12 passages · 2 authors · 2013–2023 · Most-cited: [Ray Peat](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/voices/ray-peat/index.md)

Canonical page: https://bioenergeticoracle.com/concepts/vitamin-e

## Synthesis

**Vitamin E** is fundamentally an *anti-estrogenic*, anti-inflammatory, and pro-respiratory substance whose primary protective effects are not reducible to simple antioxidant activity. [Source 2] Peat argued that its therapeutic power—including clot-clearing and quinone-reactive properties—was most pronounced in older, semi-solid, dark-colored preparations, which he believed participated in **delocalizing electrons** to activate proteins in the manner Szent-Gyorgyi proposed for healthy liver tissue. [Source 1] He observed that modern vitamin E products fail to produce the same dark charge-transfer colors, speculating that either beneficial “impurities” were removed or new manufacturing contaminants reduce their effects. [Source 1] The vitamin functions biologically in concert with **progesterone**, both stabilizing respiration and opposing estrogen; Peat referred to it as a *progesterone-sparing material* and noted its aspirin-like capacity to stop prostaglandin synthesis. [Source 11]

The distinction between natural and synthetic forms is critical. Peat insisted on the **dextroform** (d-alpha and mixed natural tocopherols), rejecting the racemic D,L-alpha synthetic version as inferior. [Source 2, 5] When comparing the major isomers, he stated that in similar milligram amounts he would prefer **gamma-tocopherol** over high-alpha preparations. [Source 1, 4] Dinkov has elaborated that gamma- and delta-tocopherol metabolites inhibit *lipoxygenase*, while native tocopherols inhibit *cyclooxygenase*, blocking the two major enzymatic pathways that convert arachidonic acid into inflammatory mediators. [Source 6] The tocopherols’ fertility-promoting action—the very etymology of “tocopherol”—is tied to their opposition to estrogen, a known anti-fertility factor in both sexes. [Source 10]

Purity and formulation determine safety and efficacy. Peat warned that many commercial vitamin E products are heavily diluted with **soybean oil**, whose polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) directly antagonize vitamin E’s protective effects against PUFA-driven aging. [Source 5] He advised that the thickest, darkest vitamin E is likely the cleanest, as oil-soluble pesticides would remain in the refined soy oil rather than the tocopherol concentrate. [Source 1] Dinkov has noted that synthetic vitamin E is often an esterified racemic mixture, yielding only about 25% of the activity of genuine natural vitamin E. [Source 10] Products containing large percentages of non-tocopherol material—such as MCT oil or residual soy lipids—risk containing *rancid PUFA* that can provoke symptoms. [Source 7] The pale, waxy sediment sometimes seen in wheat germ-derived preparations consists of non-soluble waxes and terpenes that Peat suspected contributed to the uniquely beneficial effects of older formulations. [Source 12]

Vitamin E demonstrates potent, dose-dependent therapeutic effects against major degenerative conditions. Dinkov has highlighted studies showing that **800 IU of alpha-tocopherol daily** can reverse well-established non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) within about six months, even in HIV patients with compromised liver function. [Source 8] In cardiac ischemia, a low-dose regimen administered around the time of a heart attack restored heart function to normal, reducing scarring and inflammatory mediators derived from PUFA. [Source 9] Against SARS-CoV-2 and the broader beta-coronavirus family, alpha-tocopherol at a concentration of just 10 µM/L inhibited viral replication by more than 90%, proving roughly *100-fold more potent than remdesivir*; this concentration is achievable with 75–100 IU oral doses given its ~48-hour half-life. [Source 3] Dinkov emphasizes that these antiviral effects come from plain, unesterified alpha-tocopherol, not the water-soluble derivatives sometimes claimed to be necessary for absorption. [Source 3]

## People also ask

### How does vitamin E interact with progesterone in the body?

Peat described vitamin E as a progesterone-sparing material, meaning it works alongside progesterone to stabilize respiration and oppose estrogen, while also sharing aspirin's ability to stop prostaglandin synthesis.

### Why did Ray Peat prefer gamma-tocopherol over high-alpha preparations?

Peat stated that in similar milligram amounts he would choose gamma-tocopherol, and Dinkov later explained that its metabolites inhibit lipoxygenase, one of the two main enzymatic pathways that convert arachidonic acid into inflammatory mediators.

### What dose of vitamin E has been shown to reverse fatty liver disease?

Dinkov highlighted studies where 800 IU of alpha-tocopherol daily reversed well-established non-alcoholic steatohepatitis within about six months, even in HIV patients with compromised liver function.

## Related concepts

- [Association-Induction Hypothesis (Gilbert Ling)](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/association-induction-hypothesis-gilbert-ling/index.md)
- [DHT (Dihydrotestosterone)](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/dht-dihydrotestosterone/index.md)
- [Fatty Liver Disease](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/fatty-liver-disease/index.md)
- [Fructose](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/fructose/index.md)
- [Fruit](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/fruit/index.md)
- [Lipid peroxidation](https://bioenergeticoracle.com/md/concepts/lipid-peroxidation/index.md)

## Cited passages

Passage numbers match the `[Source N]` markers in the synthesis above.

### Source 1 — Email Exchanges — Vitamin E

Ray Peat · Email · 2015

> # Vitamin E
>
> My thesis adviser, Arnold Soderwall, did some studies showing that vitamin E extended fertility considerably. I found some of his old Sigma (chemical company) vitamin E still in the freezer, and I was working on the idea that oxidative catalysts in the liver were directly related to estrogen's effects. I would extract lipids from the liver, and use paper chromatography to separate them, and for reference points I used the vitamin E and different quinones (coenzyme Q10, Q6, and benzoquinone). I happened to mix the vitamin E with one of the quinones, and noticed that it turned almost black; all of the quinones had the same effect. Putting the mixture on the paper, the moving solvent separated the original components. Delocalized electrons absorb low energy light, causing a dark color (as in black semiconductors), and Szent-Gyorgyi had expressed wonder about what could cause the dark color of the healthy liver, a color that can't be extracted as a pigment. This experiment convinced me that vitamin E could be one of the participants in delocalizing electrons for activating proteins in the way S-G suggested. However, the technology for manufacturing vitamin E has changed greatly over the years, and I have never found anything sold as vitamin E that produces the same dark colors as that old stuff from the freezer. I don't know whether the powerfully therapeutic (anti-estrogenic, clot-clearing, anti-inflammatory, quinone-reactive) old vitamin E contained 'impurities' that were effective, or whether it's that the newer materials contain impurities that reduce their effects.
>
> It was labeled d-alphatocopherol, but it was semi-solid, like crystallized honey.
>
> Pure vitamin E doesn't have any toxic effects, except when it's enough to irritate the intestine, probably because of viscosity.
>
> [Do you have a preference between with high alpha or high gamma mixed tocopherols?] In similar milligram amounts, I would prefer gamma.
>
> The lighter consistency is because less soy oil is removed from some cheaper products. They don't have to add oil, they just leave more of it in the product.

### Source 2 — Ray Peat and Bud Weiss on Ketogenic Diets

Ray Peat · Interview · Aug 22, 2023 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8jDAXIsY0

> **Bud Weiss:** Well, and it's become in many circles, as I'm sure you're aware, glutathione has become sort of like king and taking a lot of the precursors like inositol cysteine and alpha lipoic acid are a big thing. And as you say, they even have, they have patches, glutathione patches, which are very expensive, which you put on to get more glutathione coming into your system. Now, you've often spoken about vitamin E in many contexts, and so I'm getting that the protective aspect of vitamins E that you're talking about here is not directly related, if I'm correct, not directly related to the notion of an antioxidant effect, but rather is the anti-estrogenic effect. Am I correct?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yeah.
>
> **Bud Weiss:** And anti-inflammatory, same idea, and pro-thyroid. Yes. And what type of vitamin E or doesn't it make any difference? Like the tocopherols are usually recommended, you know, the big tocopherols. But does it make any difference or what vitamin E in particular?
>
> **Ray Peat:** As long as they're the dextroform, I think they all have overlapping functions.

### Source 3 — Vitamin E 100-fold more potent than remdesivir for SARS-CoV-2 / coronaviruses

Georgi Dinkov · Article · Jul 19, 2021 · https://haidut.me/?p=1557

> A great study that demonstrates once again the versatility of vitamin E, not only as a PUFA peroxidation blocker (a better term than “antioxidant”, as the latter actually implies a metabolic inhibitor), but also as a substance with direct antiviral effects. Several studies came out over the last year demonstrating that most of the symptoms, morbidity and even mortality of COVID-19 are due to lipid peroxidation and an inflammatory cascade triggered by both angiotensin II and the inflammatory mediators derived from PUFA through the activity of the COX and LOX enzymes. However, there are much fewer studies demonstrating substances with direct viral replication inhibiting effects against SARS-CoV-2. Glycine, naringenin, vitamin D, quinine, and potentially zinc are some such substances but it would be nice if there was a substance that could provide both a direct viral inhibition as well as inhibiting the development of COVID-19 once the infection has already taken hold. Well, it looks like vitamin E may be one such substance. The study below demonstrated that even at a low concentration of 10 uM/L, alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) inhibited SARS-CoV-2 by more than 90%. That concentration can be achieved in human by taking just 75 IU – 100 IU orally, once daily. Since vitamin E has a half-life of about 48 hours, this dosage can even be taken every other day and still achieve the same concentrations and, hopefully, the same antiviral effects. And if that was not already great news, the study also found that vitamin E can block the replication/infection caused by the entire family of beta-coronaviruses (of which SARS-CoV-2 is a member)! So, it looks like vitamin E may be a cheap, safe and widely available OTC protection against not only the “fearsome” SARS-CoV-2 but also the common cold. The latter is something modern medicine claims is impossible. We’ve all heard the story on TV for years – “Listen to me boy – there is no cure/protection against the common cold!” 🙂 And the good news does not end there. The study also found that alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) was about 100-fold more potent/effective than remdesivir against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses!

### Source 4 — Ray Peat Email Advice Depository — Post 103

Ray Peat · Email · Jul 27, 2013

> **Question:** I hope I didn't ask Ray a question Dan already asked him. Here is my question: Do you have a preference between with high alpha or high gamma mixed tocopherols? There is a vitamin E from France, from wheat germ oil, which is high gamma. If that's good in theory, would 14mg (about 20 IU) daily be a good amount? That's what one pill has. [references]
>
> **Ray Peat:** In similar milligram amounts, I would prefer gamma.

### Source 5 — Ask the Herb Doctor: Vibrations/Frequencies Part 2

Ray Peat · Interview · Feb 21, 2020

> ## Vitamin E and Aging
>
> **Sarah Murray:** Where did they get that Vitamin E from? How did they process it?
>
> **Ray Peat:** That was bought from Sigma Chemical Co., but it was fairly typical at the time. It was the highest grade available. At that time, all Vitamin E was fairly brown colored and very thick. Some of the studies suggested that it was a waxy, highly saturated, long-chain fatty acid that was part of the endurance-promoting antioxidant effect, not the simple tocopherol itself.
>
> **Sarah Murray:** So it makes a big difference what form of Vitamin E they're using to test. Does that mean we need to be careful when supplementing?
>
> **Ray Peat:** Yes. Even 10 or 20 years ago, the majority of it was highly diluted with soybean oil—highly unsaturated. That is exactly what my professor found was the antagonistic effect; Vitamin E protected against the pro-aging effect of the polyunsaturated fats (PUFA).
>
> **Sarah Murray:** So if your Vitamin E is thin and liquid, it's probably not good. If it's thick and viscous, can we assume that's better quality?
>
> **Ray Peat:** I think so.
>
> **Andrew Murray:** What makes a good quality Vitamin E supplement?

### Source 6 — The ThermoDiet Podcast Episode 114 - Georgi Dinkov

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · Nov 27, 2022 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twpszx115qQ

> **Tyler Woodward:** What are your thoughts on the auto-oxidation of the vitamin E when you have, I think it's mostly, it was shown in plants, but like you put enough vitamin A, or sorry, vitamin E as alpha-tocopherol and it starts to auto-oxidize or, you know, it starts to act as a oxidant itself instead of acting like an antioxidant.
>
> **Georgi Dinkov:** Well, to act as an oxidant, it first needs to get converted to something called a hydroquinone. So the tocopherol, if you look at the molecule, basically, some of those hydroxyl groups, one of them can become an actual carbonyl group. And that's basically when it's like a semiquinone. And a semiquinone can have pro-oxidant effects. But I don't think these effects overwhelm or I've never seen cases where providing like a vitamin E as a supplement has ever had a pro... ROS effect, right? So peroxide effect is not necessarily bad, right? In fact, you want it because a hydroquinone can accept one electron, right? We already know the quinones are beneficial. They can accept, most of them can accept two electrons, right? So hydroquinone is not necessarily bad. It's maybe only in a situation where a hydroquinone is in the direct proximity of one of those fatty acid radicals. Maybe it can convert into something even more toxic, but we would have seen it by now in large experimental studies. I don't know of a large experimental study, in other words, where there was intervention with vitamin E that actually produced a pro-ROS effect and somehow worsened biomarkers such as the T-bars, right, which measures the thio, barbituric acid. reactive species, which basically is a test which measures effectively the levels of myelodialdehyde in the body because myelodialdehyde is reacted with thiobarbuturic acid. And if sufficient myelodialdehyde is present, then you get this byproduct and then can quantify it and say, hey, you have a lot of myelodialdehyde in the body. All the studies that I've seen so far with tocopherol, any of the isoforms, has produced a reduction in T-bars slash MDA, not an increase. So if there are peroxidant effects, and by peroxidant, I mean like somehow causing oxidative damage, I would say they're probably localized and they're only present in organisms that are saturated. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.

### Source 7 — Ray Peat Email Advice Depository — Post 844

Ray Peat · Email · Dec 3, 2022

> **Question:** I use Whole VIT E from "Health Natura" [ [Link of the product](https://healthnatura.com/whole-e-2oz/) ]
>
> **Ray Peat:** According to the information on that website, the tocopherols account for 55% of the volume. The other materials could be responsible for some of the symptoms
>
> **Question:** I just checked again. Tocopherols account for 76% total Tocopherols and another ingredient is MCT oil.
>
> **Ray Peat:** The 45% of nontocopherol material is probably the problem, likely to include rancid soy PUFA.

### Source 8 — Vitamin E can treat/cure severe fatty liver disease (NASH) in humans

Georgi Dinkov · Article · Feb 10, 2020 · https://haidut.me/?p=884

> As many of my readers know, currently there is an epidemic of the condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). By some estimates, more than 30% (100mil) of people living in the US have NAFLD and in about 25% of those the condition will progress to the more severe form known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is almost always progresses to cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. Mainstream medicine states that there is no known treatment for NAFLD, let alone for NASH. Billions of dollars are being poured into finding cures for these conditions considering the massive number of people they affect. Well, as the studies below demonstrate, a daily dose of 800 IU alpha-tocopherol can reverse well-established NASH in about 6 months. What makes this result much more important is that one of the studies was on patients with HIV, who already have highly compromised liver function and are much more resistant to treatment. So, if vitamin E could cure their NASH, one can only imagine how much more effective it would be in the general population. Oh, and in case somebody is wondering – yes, vitamin E has already been shown to be effective for the milder form of liver disease – NAFLD. I really hope the FDA is taking notes, success stories like this rarely come along…
>
> [references]

### Source 9 — Vitamin E restores cardiac health after heart attack

Georgi Dinkov · Article · Sep 18, 2019 · https://haidut.me/?p=559

> Those trials reported up to 40% reduction of CVD events in people taking natural vitamin E (alpha tocopherol or tocopherol mixtures) on a daily basis – a blockbuster result that even aspirin has not been able to match so far.
>
> [references]
>
> The study demonstrated that administering a low-dose (HED 0.4mg/kg daily) alpha-tocopherol for just 3 days – day before, day of, and day after the ischemic event – restored heart function to normal. In fact, heart damage, scarring/fibrosis and pumping capacity were not significantly different between the vitamin E treated group and the the group that did not undergo an ischemic event. As such, the authors recommend the usage of vitamin E as an acute treatment during or shortly after an ischemic event such as a heart attack is diagnosed. While a good portion of the benefits of vitamin E treatment were due to its well-known antioxidant effects, another major beneficial pathway was the dramatic reduction of inflammatory mediators in the vitamin E group, which are known to play a strong role in the long-lasting damage/scarring of the heart muscle following an ischemic event. Of course, many of these inflammatory mediators are derived from PUFA, so the study can also be interpreted as showing that PUFA is a major factor behind both the initiation and long-term heart muscle damage of heart attacks.
>
> [references]

### Source 10 — Why You May Need More Carbs in Your Diet - Discussion Between Georgi Dinkov & Dr. Mercola

Georgi Dinkov · Interview · May 21, 2023

> **Dr. Joseph Mercola:** Yeah, well, let's go on this like you did with the aspirin because it's important. And I think the parameters were that most of it, the vitamin E, should be a combination product, should have some tocotrienols, it should have the different isomers of type tocopherol, but alpha being the most important. So maybe half of the tocopherol should be alpha, and then you could have the beta gamma deltas.
>
> **Georgi Dinkov:** Yeah, so the pharma companies managed to bastardize even vitamin E because they saw how successful it was. And they said, we can do better. So they synthesized alpha-tocopheryl acetate. In fact, they used both. Most of the vitamin E comes from Roche, doesn't it? Yeah. They either extract it now. If you get a synthetic vitamin E, but if you get an allegro vitamin E from the pill in the store, most likely it's actually a mix of L and D isomers with the L1 being inactive. So they're giving you racemic vitamin E. And on top of that, it's an actual ester. So it only has about 50% of the activity of the real one. And if you divide that by two, because one of the isomers is inactive, you're getting about 25% of the activity of what real vitamin E should be getting, if you're getting the synthetic one. But anyways, back in the early 20th century, the reason vitamin E is called tocopherol, that's the name, tocopherol, it means pregnancy promoting. So fertility actually factor in both males and females. And it was known that deficiency of vitamin E causes infertility in both males and females. So if there was any problem with a couple having a problem to conceive, they will give them a little bit of wheat germ oil, which is very rich in all the isomers. Unfortunately, also very high on PUFA. But they thought for one or two dosages, the benefits outweigh the risks. Only later they managed to start extracting just the tocopherols and basically get rid of the PUFA. So tocopherols, so fertility-promoting vitamin. But what causes infertility? We know estrogen does, right? In fact, most of the birth control pills on the market are a combination. It used to be only pure estrogen. usually ethinyl estradiol. Now they're doing combination progestin and estrogen. But long story short, if you give enough estrogen, the female cannot get pregnant. Now, they also know that estrogen is an anti-fertility factor in males.

### Source 11 — Dr. Ray Peat, Day Two: Full Interview from On the Back of a Tiger

Ray Peat · Interview · Feb 18, 2021 · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3yVUELD2ZA

> **Ray Peat:** and when i did the paper chromatography the solvent running past these not only the coenzyme q10 on the liver extract moved at the same rate but the vitamin e moving at a different rate the solvent separated the vitamin E from the coenzyme Q10 and just the pressure of the solvent reverted them to their colorless or orange original color showing that the black or greenish black color was a very tenuous kind of bond that just the solvent moving it across the paper was enough to separate the bond and destroy the color. And so the fact that when I ground up the liver in the ethanol, the fact that it turned white, I was apparently just separating some components from the coenzyme Q10. thinking about the livers containing vitamin E as well as coenzyme Q, it occurred to me that part of the color of the liver is probably this darkening effect of putting the donor and acceptor together. And thinking about the metabolic interactions of vitamin E and progesterone, vitamin E as the 1940s anti-estrogen, and some people in Italy called vitamin E the progesterone-sparing material. So it seemed very logical to combine them, not only because it's a perfect solvent, but because biologically they function together. Both of them stabilize and protect respiration and have the anti-estrogenic, anti-inflammatory effects. Vitamin E has some very aspirin-like effects in stopping prostaglandin synthesis and so on.

### Source 12 — IdeaLabs Forum Q&A — TocoVit

Georgi Dinkov · Forum Q&A · May 6, 2016

> **Georgi Dinkov:** (2018-01-03) Excellent, thanks so much for the feedback!
>
> **Fractality:** (2018-01-09) Sorry if this has already been answered but I'm short on time. This latest batch of tocovit I've received has a pale/whitish color almost sediment like which forms in the bottom of the bottle. What is this? Should I shake the bottle up? Even when I shake the bottle it doesn't seem to combine.
>
> **Georgi Dinkov:** (2018-01-09) I would shake the bottle so that the sediment disperses equally. These seem to be the non-soluble waxes in the liquid. We had TocoVit split into various constituents by a lab and the "waxes/terpenes" fraction looks like that.
>
> **Lucenzo01:** (2018-01-10) Is there some kind of equivalence between topical tocovit vs generic E brand in terms of potency? I'm asking because although I would love to use it it can get really expensive with higher doses. Could 100 IU's of tocovit protect the possible toxicity of huge doses of vitamin A?
>
> **Georgi Dinkov:** (2018-01-18) Vitamin E is vitamin E, when it comes to tocopherol. So, the equivalence of both is 1 to 1. TocoVit contains other chemicals from wheat germ, which peat opined may have been responsible for the highly beneficial effects of older vitamin E products he (and his thesis adviser) used. So, not even sure how to compare TocoVit to a generic vitamin E. But as far as the alpha tocopherols in both of them is concerned they are all equivalent.

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