Kids and vitamin E

We use to prick both ends of vitamin E capsules and squeeze the contents into a teaspoonful of non-allergenic juice to get an infant to take the vitamin. There also are water-soluble fatty vitamin preparations for those with fibrocystic disease. Some children like the taste of vitamin E squirted directly onto their tongue, even in the most common oil form. Try whatever works: 100 IU per day is a good amount for most kids.

Even “vitamin E-rich” foods are not that rich: they might have just enough vitamin E to protect the long-chain fatty acids in them. A supplement form is needed. Vitamin E is safe and remarkably non-toxic. It provides the primary defense against the formation of dangerous lipid hydroperoxides (broken, oxidized fatty acids). For example, overexposure to oxygen has been a major cause of blindness in premature infants. Oxygen-tent retinal damage is now prevented by giving “preemies” vitamin E, a natural antioxidant. The typical recommended dosage is 100 mg of vitamin E per kilogram body weight, which is around 200 IU for a preemie. This is equivalent to an adult dose of about 7,000 IU for an average –weight person. When you purchase vitamin E, be sure to get the natural form (d-alpha tocopherol) rather than the synthetic (d, l-alpha tocopherol) since it is much more efficient in preventing the formation of dangerous hydroperoxides. Here is a useful health tip: vitamin E applied to a scar, even a healed up “keloid”, can bring about a disappearing act. Simply pierce both ends of a capsule, squeeze out a drop or two, and rub into the scar tissue daily. It takes a while, but watch and see the results.

Many doctors wrongly advise their patients that their children stand a chance of toxicity with megadoses. In fact, toxicity symptoms have not been reported even at intakes of 800 IU per kilogram of body weight daily for five months, according to the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board.