Children who eat lots of foods containing vitamin E have a lower risk of the itchy skin condition called eczema.
Children who eat lots of foods containing vitamin E have a lower risk of the itchy skin condition called eczema.
Vitamin E, found in vegetable oils, nuts, and whole grains, is considered good for skin because of its antioxidant properties. However, no study in the past has examined vitamin E's role in lowering the risk of eczema. The limited number of previous studies used only food questionnaires and such surveys can be somewhat unreliable as they are based on participants recall . To look into the association of vitamin E and eczema risk, researchers followed 396 Japanese children, aged between 10 and 13 years, 240 of whom had eczema, wheezing, or asthma. The researchers measured the levels of vitamin A and E in the participants' blood.
No relationship was found between a child's risk of any of the conditions and his or her blood levels of vitamin A-related compounds. However, those with the highest levels of vitamin E-related compounds were at 67 percent lower risk of eczema than those with the lowest. Even those with only moderately higher than average levels of the compound, had a similarly lower risk.
It's not clear why vitamin E would lower the risk of eczema, but the researchers speculated that vitamin E's antioxidant and immune-boosting effects might play a role in cutting eczema risk.
Vitamin E, found in vegetable oils, nuts, and whole grains, is considered good for skin because of its antioxidant properties. However, no study in the past has examined vitamin E's role in lowering the risk of eczema. The limited number of previous studies used only food questionnaires and such surveys can be somewhat unreliable as they are based on participants recall . To look into the association of vitamin E and eczema risk, researchers followed 396 Japanese children, aged between 10 and 13 years, 240 of whom had eczema, wheezing, or asthma. The researchers measured the levels of vitamin A and E in the participants' blood.
No relationship was found between a child's risk of any of the conditions and his or her blood levels of vitamin A-related compounds. However, those with the highest levels of vitamin E-related compounds were at 67 percent lower risk of eczema than those with the lowest. Even those with only moderately higher than average levels of the compound, had a similarly lower risk.
It's not clear why vitamin E would lower the risk of eczema, but the researchers speculated that vitamin E's antioxidant and immune-boosting effects might play a role in cutting eczema risk.
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