Men used to be able to choose between various sized in socks. No longer. "One size fits all," it is said. But why is there no variety now in sizes? The answer is: it is cheaper for the manufacturer to produce only one size rather than many.

And so it is with such as vitamin E. It is difficult though not impossible to find 100 IU tablets and 200 IUs*. Drug stores however usually sell only the 400 IU dosage. A bottle of 100s notes that this is 333% of the suggested requirement. Surely this is more than sufficient. It is 1333
times the dosage. The research on this really massive amount is sparse and yet it has been noted that a 400 IU dosage per day (taken in one pill) increased rather decreased some manifestations of heart disease.

A December 18, 2009 report in an important medical journal concluded with "This study demonstrates for the first time that contrary to the common view of Vit. E as a beneficial supplement, Vit. E may
introduce a circulatory risk...[and induce pro-thrombosis...exposure.]"

*Some mail-order vitamin companies including Swanson and Puritan Pride sell these lower dose tablets.

Editor's note: One may quibble at the statement that this was "the first time..." but it does add to the evidence of possible over-dosing of vitamin E. It is quite conceivable that spread over a day, 300 or 400 IUs might be safe, but it seems advisable to avoid single doses of the 400 IU magnitude.

Is it Possible to Have TOO MUCH Vitamin E? Bibliography

Cell Biochem. Biophys, 2009, Dec. 18. By: Drs. Koshkaryev, Barshtein and Yedgar, Dept. of
Biochemistry, Hebrew U-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel