It has a fundamentally oxidative function, which is key in our body, and it is found mainly in nuts and vegetable oils.
Vitamin D has been one of the most named vitamins in Spain during the three months of strict confinement that we lived through last spring, but it is also important to talk about others that may be less known but just as important. From a young age we were told that vitamins were crucial for our development and growth, that if we wanted to be strong and healthy we had to eat these foods that contained a myriad of vitamins (and minerals).
And what is true for children, in this case is also true for adults, because each and every one of the vitamins that exist have and fulfill their function. For example, what do we know about vitamin E (tocopherol)? What is your most important role?
Well, although it may not be a vitamin that is in the alphabet of our vocabulary, vitamin E (tocopherol) has a crucial function in our health: it is a powerful antioxidant. As the Spanish Society of Dietetics and Food Sciences explains on its website, “vitamin E is considered the antioxidant vitamin par excellence since it prevents against lipid oxidation and protects against free radicals and oxidative damage”.
In more detail, the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC) explains in this report on vitamin E: “it protects cell membranes from deterioration by the release of oxygen-containing free radicals. It prevents the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It may be useful to prevent situations that are related to the destruction of free radicals, such as aging, effects of environmental toxins or the triggering of some forms of cancer “.
Vegetable oils
Foods rich in vitamin E are fundamentally, as listed by the FEC, nuts, vegetables, vegetables, cereals, margarines and, above all, vegetable oils such as wheat oils, sunflower oil and oil olive oil (“vitamin E in virgin and extra virgin olive oils protects cells against oxidative damage”).
By quantities, we would have, for example, that 100 grams of sunflower oil would contain 56 milligrams of vitamin E, as explained on its website by the Spanish Society of Dietetics and Food Sciences (Sedca). Other oils such as olive oil, for every 100 grams we would have 18 grams of this vitamin and 7 milligrams per 100 grams of corn oil.
It is important, however, to emphasize – according to this scientific society – that “vegetable oils should be consumed, whenever possible, in their virgin state instead of refined, for their greater benefits for health”.
It is also important to note that, according to the nutritional recommendations, olive oil, virgin olive oil and extra virgin olive oil should always be the first option, both for cooking and for dressing, for each and every one of its properties, widely and scientifically proven.
Nuts and cereals
Other foods rich in vitamin D would be nuts and cereals of corn and wheat and wheat germ. In this case, according to the SEDCA, for every 100 grams of food, cereals would have about 17 milligrams of vitamin D, and almonds and hazelnuts (raw and toasted) about 27 milligrams.
It is convenient to clarify and also remember that nuts should be included daily, if we want in our diet (the recommended amount according to experts is 3 to 7 days a week) about 25-30 grams, but always raw or toasted and without Salt. To really be healthy, it is important to avoid fried or salty ones.
Finally, other foods in which we can also find vitamin E and that are included in our diet on a regular basis, since they are part of a healthy diet, are avocados (for every 100 grams, we would have about 4 milligrams of vitamin E) ; soy (for every 100 grams, we find about 3 milligrams) and fruits such as dates or strawberries, which for every 100 grams of food, contain about 2 milligrams; the same amount that we would find in eggs, butter or blue fish.
As for the recommended daily amount, this would be somewhat different in men and women. According to the FEC, it would be recommended about 8 milligrams daily in women and 10 milligrams in men and 6 or 7 milligrams in the infant stage. However, to reach the requirements we need for vitamin E and all other vitamins — considered essential nutrients — it is important to follow a healthy and varied diet.
As the Spanish Nutrition Foundation explains in its report The Spanish diet: nutritional characteristics of the main foods in our diet, no food contains adequate amounts of all vitamins, but “each food group contains different vitamins and in variable proportions. therefore, to avoid the deficiencies of some of them it is necessary to take foods of all the groups in the suitable quantities “.
