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TAKING vitamin E supplements can actually rob the body of one form of the
vitamin.

The health benefits of vitamin E, or tocopherol, come from its ability to
absorb chemical oxidants that can damage cells, making tumours more likely to
form. More than 80 per cent of the body’s vitamin E is in a form called
&agr;-tocopherol, which is also the form used in most vitamin E supplements.

But a team led by Bruce Ames of the University of California at Berkeley has
found that nitrogen oxides—oxidants found in polluted air and produced by
the body during inflammation—can only be destroyed by a second form of the
vitamin, &ggr;-tocopherol. Furthermore, high doses of &agr;-tocopherol deplete the
body’s reserves of the g form.

The researchers report their findings in the 1 April Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. They suggest that vitamin E pills should be
modified to include &ggr;-tocopherol.