The two forms of vitamin E that prevent cancer – and the one that increases the risk

One form of vitamin E increases your chances of developing cancer – while two other forms protect you against some of the more common cancers, such as prostate, colon, lung and breast.
The ‘good’ forms of vitamin E – the gamma-tocopherols and delta-tocopherols, found in food and oils – have a protective effect, while the alpha-tocopherol form, sometimes used in supplements, increases the risk, especially of prostate cancer, say researchers from the Center for Cancer Prevention Research at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.
They were puzzled by the wildly varying results for vitamin E that different studies were having – and discovered that the three different forms had a dramatically different effect.
The two ‘good’ forms – gamma and delta – are found in soybean, canola and oils, as well as in nuts, protects against cancer, and even slows tumour growth in people already with cancer, say the Rutgers researchers.
However, the alpha form, often used in vitamin supplements, increased the risk of prostate cancer in healthy men.
(Source: Cancer Prevention Research, 2012; doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-12-0045).

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