Super E Complex - Supplements Descriptions

Super E Complex
(Twinlab)

There are many vitamin E products available. But as with all supplements, quality can vary from brand to brand. But I have found Twinlab products to all be of high quality, so at one time, I mainly used supplements by this company. That is one reason I took Twinlab's Super E Complex.

A purported advantage of this product over other vitamin E products it that it contains 400 IU of mixed tocopherols. Most vitamin E products only contain alpha tocopherol. But vitamin E in nature is actually composed of four different tocopherols: alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Such a mixture supposedly gives the vitamin E greater antioxidant power than alpha tocopherol alone, so (quoting from the label), "Super E Complex contains the highest quality and most biological active source of 100% natural vitamin E available. Super E Complex contains the entire complex of naturally occurring unesterfied mixed tocopherols."

However, I've never seen any actual research showing that mixed tocopherols are in fact superior to just alpha tocopherol. But this product is not much more expensive than most regular vitamin E supplements, so it might be worth it to get this mixture of tocopherols and thus greater possible benefits.

However, much buzz occurred over a research study reported about in the news in the fall of 2004. It found that people who took up to 400 IUs a day of supplemental vitamin E had a lower risk of dying from all causes during the study period. But those who took more than 400 IUs had an increased risk. Other studies since then have also questioned the benefit and even found possible harm from mega-doses of vitamin E. I discuss such problems in my article Folly Mega-Dose Supplements.

Another potential problem with this supplement is it contains soy oil. But this is not unique to this brand as most vitamin E supplements contain soy oil. The amount is probably very small, but if you are allergic to soy, this would be problematic.

However, this product is no longer available, so maybe others realized it was not worth the cost. For a lower dose and soy free vitamin E supplement, see Vitamin E Complex with Mixed Tocopherols.

The above article was posted on this site October 10, 2004.
It was updated June 20, 2017.

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