High Daily Dose of Vitamin E Found to Boost Immune System

A daily, 200-milligram dose of vitamin E, already believed to protect older people from heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s, also boosts the immune system, lowering the incidence of colds and other infections, a new study found. The research in the May 7 Journal of the American Medical Assn. suggests that older people ought to take about 20 times more vitamin E a day than the current recommended daily allowance of 8 to 10 milligrams, authors said.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, located at Tufts University in Boston, compared supplements with a placebo among 88 healthy people age 65 and older. Taking the supplements for four months increased subjects’ T-cell immune function by 65% and their response to hepatitis B vaccine sixfold, compared with placebos, the team said.