31 May 2015
Health-E Muscles
Vitamin E has long been hailed for its antioxidant properties, but less well-known is its role in keeping muscles healthy. During exercise, muscle cell membranes tear, which is why you might feel sore after going to the gym, and vitamin E plays a key role in healing them. Without it, the plasma membrane, responsible for holding a cell together, cannot heal. The vitamin is actually a group of eight naturally occurring chemicals called tocopherols and tocotrienols. Here, is a polarised light micrograph of vitamin E (tocopherol) crystals, the richest sources of which are nuts, seeds, cereals and plant oils. Understanding the way vitamin E repairs muscle cell membranes could have implications for muscular dystrophy and diabetes-related muscle weakness.
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