ROLE OF VITAMIN E IN OUR BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM
Hello steemians, I bring you greetings from my neighborhood, it’s your boy 
WHAT ARE VITAMINS
Vitamins are a vital source of life and are essential for many living things to obtain a normal healthy living. They are required in minute quantities, but their actions are exclusively indispensable. They could be water-solube or fat soluble. By that, we mean that some can dissolve in water (polar solvent) and others fat (non-polar solvent). We have Vitamin A, D, E, K as being fat soluble.
You could use a mnemonic like (ADEK) to constantly remind yourself of them.
Others, include Vitamin B (B- GROUP VITAMINS) that is further divided into B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9. Some vitamins are essential while others are non-essential. You might be feeling that some are useless, not at all. Essential in biochemical terms means that they cannot be synthesized by the body but must be taken up through diets, while non- essential can readily be synthesized and as such is not essential to be taken up through our diets. Our focus today is not on vitamins generally, but on vitamin E. let’s gets going
Image source
WHAT IS VITAMIN E
Vitamin E is one of the fat-soluble vitamins, It is scientifically referred to as tocopherol. It includes four tocopherols (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocopherol) and four tocotrienols (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocotrienol).
Vitamin E is present in fat containing foods and, as the fat-soluble property of the vitamin allows it to be stored within the fatty tissues of animals and humans, (ADIPOSE TISSUE).
HISTORY OF VITAMIN E
Vitamin E was discovered in 1922 by Herbert McLean Evans and Katharine Scott Bishop and first isolated in a pure form by Gladys Anderson Emerson in 1935 at the University of California, Berkeley. Erhard Fernholz elucidated its structure in 1938 and shortly afterwards the same year, Paul Karrer and his team first synthesized it.
The first use for vitamin E as a therapeutic agent was conducted in 1938 by Widenbauer, who used wheat germ oil supplement on 17 premature newborn infants suffering from growth failure.
REFERENCE
SOURCES OF VITAMIN E
- Vegetable oils like wheat germ, sunflower, and safflower oils are among the best sources of vitamin E. Corn and soybean oils also provide some quantities too
- Nuts (such as peanuts, hazelnuts, and, especially, almonds) and seeds (like sunflower seeds) are also among the best sources of vitamin E.
- Green vegetables, such as spinach and broccoli, provide some vitamin E.
- Food companies add artificially synthesized vitamin E to some breakfast cereals, fruit juices, margarines and spreads, and other foods.
- Multivitamin mineral supplement.
SOURCE
IMPORTANCE TO OUR BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM
The most pronounced biological function of vitamin E is in its role as an antioxidant and thereby protects the body cells from the damage caused by free radicals. let me point out that our cell components like carbohydrate, fats (lipids) and protein have elements and compounds like hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. These free radicals are highly reactive and destructive compounds that damage cellular compartments. Free radicals are more like molecules that can combine with your cell component to cause damage, A radical chemically is an unstable molecule (looking for what will stabilize it), so when it combines with these compounds (hydrogen, carbon, etc), our cell components becomes disrupted and eventually become damaged. But vitamin E through a mechanism donates its OH group to stabilize this free radical and relieving its action on our cell component. The image of vitamin E is above for you to see.
Other bonus function includes:
I will also try to explain briefly for some steemians that are not health science students.
→→→Vitamin E provides stability and integrity of cellular membranes. Firstly, cell membrane is a protective covering for many organs and components in the body. You know your mitochondria, brain cell, blood cells like red blood cells? These cells possess membranes that enclose them and protect them from damage, any damage to any of them results in a disease or ailment. If your brain membrane damages, you could literally run mad. So vitamin E gives protection to these membranes.
→→→ It aids in the proper clotting of blood which promotes wound healing and prevents hemorrhage. Notice that when you get injured, there is a surge of blood coming out from the affected area, it could flow and flow until you become weak due to little or no blood. Vitamin E prevents excessive flow out of blood, which enhances wound healing process and issue of blood.
→→→ It is also important in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases by preventing the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Heart attacks and heart diseases are ameliorated by vitamin E. Cholesterol is a form of fat (lipid). When deposited along blood channels could cause damage, LDL is a cholesterol transport substance, and vitamin E prevents its oxidation and makes it readily available for transport of cholesterol
→→→ It improves sex and reproduction by reducing the oxidation and degradation of sex hormones and enzymes responsible for sperm production and ovarian health. This is an area that interests a variety of people, do you know that your sexual urge, features are controlled by sex hormones. Oxidation or breakdown of these sex hormones could tamper with our sexual life and you know what that can mean. vitamin E prevents this from happening
I hope this was helpful and educative to someone, don’t forget to resteem or upvote to support your boy.
I will be reviewing other vitamins too in subsequent posts, try and look out for them. A knowledge about these little things is valuable to our life. Educate someone out there and stay informed. Knowledge is indeed power. Love you all. See you soon.