The vitamin E sold as a dietary supplement contains primarily alpha-tocopherol, but foods usually contain several different tocopherols at one time. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, recently discovered that one of these, gamma-tocopherol, may be as important as alpha-tocopherol in preventing degenerative diseases. It seems that this form of vitamin E neutralizes nitrogen oxides that can alter DNA and promote some of the damage caused by inflammation. Alpha-tocopherol, on the other hand, largely ignores nitrogen oxides.

The discovery of gamma-tocopherol's protective powers may explain a research finding that has, so far, been perplexing. Lithuanian men have four times the heart disease mortality risk of Swedish men, yet their blood pressures, cholesterol and alpha tocopherol levels do not substantially differ. One possible reason is that the gamma-tocopherol levels in Lithuanian men are far lower than their Swedish counterparts, which may account for their poor health.

Not only does gamma-tocopherol seem to protect the heart, it may also inhibit cancer. The substance was found to halt the formation of tumor cells at high doses much more effectively than alpha-tocopherol.