October 16 was World Food Day, so we would like to take this opportunity to stress the importance of getting enough Vitamin E.
Oxygen, which is what keeps us alive, is also a very dangerous gas. 2.5 billion years ago oxygen would have killed any living thing, but a microbe took advantage of the explosive power of this gas: mitochondria. What happened next was one of the most important steps in the history of this planet, and perhaps the key to why we age: two of the small cells joined, and one of the two absorbed the other. Today mitochondria are inside the cells of every living creature, providing the energy that fuels all kinds of life.
All our movements are driven by them, but we pay a high price, because every time we breathe, we age.
The problem is that it is not just oxygen that is corrosive, but also its derivatives. Inside mitochondria, oxygen is transformed into energy, but part of it is separated into particles called free radicals, which can damage any part of the body’s cells and attack the genes within each one. These are unstable oxygen molecules that have lost an electron and, upon trying to capture one from another healthy molecule, start a chain reaction having harmful effects, such as arthritis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and many other maladies affecting humans over the years.
Antioxidants increase life expectancy, reduce diseases and slow aging, which is the deterioration of vital organs due to oxidation, caused by the oxygen we breathe and by other agents around us. What products are antioxidants?
Vitamin E is found in a family of 8 antioxidants, and is key to good health.
Vitamin E, in the correct dose, can delay the aging process by up to 25 years (Linus Pauling).
At ADI Food & Feed we recommend the consumption of natural vitamin E in both food and in supplements if one does not otherwise consume the proper amount.