Vitamin E intake crucial during ' first 1,000 days'

A new study has revealed that vitamin E is especially critical for the very young, the elderly, and women who are or may become pregnant.

According to researchers, a lifelong proper intake of vitamin E is also important, researchers said, but often complicated by the fact that this nutrient is one of the most difficult to obtain through diet alone and it has been estimated that only a tiny fraction of Americans consume enough dietary vitamin E to meet the estimated average requirement.

Maret Traber, a professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University said that many people believe that vitamin E deficiency never happens, which isn't true. It happens with an alarming frequency both in the United States and around the world. But some of the results of inadequate intake are less obvious, such as its impact on things like nervous system and brain development, or general resistance to infection.

The study found that inadequate vitamin E is associated with increased infection, anemia, stunting of growth and poor outcomes during pregnancy for both the infant and mother and overt deficiency, especially in children, can cause neurological disorders, muscle deterioration, and even cardiomyopathy.

The researchers recommend a supplement for all people with at least the estimated average requirement of vitamin E, but that it's particularly important for all children through about age two; for women who are pregnant, nursing or may become pregnant; and for the elderly.

The study was published in Advances in Nutrition.