Vitamin E prevents cancer

Scientists say Vitamin E protects against both prostate and bladder cancer. But they note that popping supplements is probably not the best way to get the vital nutrient.

Two US studies found that people who either ate the most vitamin E containing food or who had the highest levels in the blood were the least likely to have cancer.

But the researchers also noted that there are several different forms of vitamin E and the kind you eat - in this case alpha tocopherol - is key.

And the best-absorbed form of alpha tocopherol is not found in supplements but in foods such as sunflower seeds, spinach, almonds and sweet peppers, inform xinhuanet.com

The vitamin E in an extra handful of nuts or serving of spinach each day may help cut the risk of bladder and prostate cancers, according to two separate studies presented yesterday in Orlando.

For the prostate, Finnish men who got more of the vitamin in their diets slashed their risk by as much as 53 percent. For the bladder, people in a Texas-based study had about a 40 percent reduction in risk whether they took vitamin E supplements or ate more foods that are rich in the nutrient.

"People need not be afraid to incorporate nuts and seeds into their diets," said John Radcliffe, a nutrition researcher from Texas Women's University in Houston, which was involved in the bladder cancer research. "For a long time, dietitians would not recommend them because they are high in fat. But half an ounce to an ounce of nuts and seeds daily" is fine, according to baltimoresun.com