Q: I would like to know your opinion on the recent articles about how taking over 100 milligrams of vitamin E daily can increase a person’s risk of developing lung cancer.

––Joe, via e-mail

Dr. Wright: So far, every article published in “mainstream” medical journals telling us that vitamin E increases risk of something suffers from the same basic defect: The so-called “vitamin E” used in such studies is either “d,l-alpha-tocopherol” or “d-alpha-tocopherol” or both. The problem is, these “vitamin Es” are not vitamin E as found in Nature.

“d,l-alpha-tocopherol” is an entirely manufactured mixture of “l-alpha-tocopherol” and “d-alpha-tocopherol.” But only the “d-alpha” form is also found in Nature—the “l-alpha” form is an unnatural byproduct of the synthetic process. Our bodies literally can’t make any use of “l-alpha-tocopherol. And, even worse, “l-alpha” blocks the action of “d-alpha.”

There are a total of four tocopherols found in Nature: alpha, beta, delta, and gamma. The four tocopherols are always found together; while the proportions vary, gamma and alpha are the “big two,” while beta and delta are present in smaller quantities. But even though the proportions vary, the tocopherols are always found—and act—together.

“Mainstream” science still hasn’t learned the lessons of the 1930s, when researchers found that even though there are many “B” vitamins for any of them to function most efficiently, all the others should be present. That’s why anytime I recommend an individual B vitamin, I also recommend “backing it up” with the a “B-complex” supplement. The same is true for the four forms of vitamin E: For best results, they should always be used together in the form of a “mixed tocopherol” supplement (which could just as easily be called an “E complex”).

As usual, for the best results with the least hazard, copy Nature as closely as you can!

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