VITAMINS and antioxidants are fast becoming widely accepted as anti-ageing nutrients and the market for anti-ageing formulations is growing at 7.6 per cent annually.
"There is overwhelming evidence that Vitamin E decreases the risk of heart diseases," says Dr Lester Packer, the world's foremost antioxidant research scientist.
His area of expertise includes antioxidants, free radicals and topical application of antioxidants on skin.
Free radicals are involved in both the onset and the progression of heart disease.
The damage to the heart muscle is due to a burst of free radicals after the flood flow resumes," says Packer who is currently director of Packer Lab and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Nu Skin and Pharmanex.
He has also published over 800 scientific papers and more than 100 books on antioxidants and health as well as a book, The AntiOxidant Miracle --- his first book for non-scientists.
They have a unique role in preventing and treating conditions such as atherosclerosis, high cholesterol levels and even some cancers.
The cause of heart disease means a failure of the body's antioxidant network to do its job.
Thus bolstering Vitamin E and the entire antioxidant network has a profound effect on our ability to stave off heart diseases.
"This was because the south's Mediterranean diet includes high amounts of Vitamin E-rich foods such as olive oil and and an assortment of fruit and vegetables," says Packer.
"Antioxidants regenerate each other and work in coordination.
Some antioxidants, although metabolically connected with the other antioxidants like the carotenoids (natural pigments found in fruit and vegetables) --- don't operate the same way.
"It is better to take a multivitamin supplement with all the antioxidant and antioxidant enzymes.