Vitamin E is an essential fat-soluble vitamin with powerful antioxidant properties that can support the healthy functions of your heart, skin, bones, eyes and digestive system. While vitamin E was first discovered by Herbert McLean Evans in 1922, it was the late 1950s before the scientific community realized that what they knew as vitamin E actually consisted of two major subgroups: tocotrienols and tocopherols. Each subgroup contains four chemically and structurally diverse molecules (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-), totaling eight different compounds.
Tocotrienols are generally the more potent of the two subgroups, displaying up to 60x greater antioxidant potential than tocopherols. Taking it a step further, the most potent forms of vitamin E are delta- and gamma-tocotrienols. As a potent antioxidant, vitamin E can protect your body from the harmful effects of free radicals, as well as promote your overall health. The best vitamin E supplements contain only tocotrienols with zero tocopherols, since the latter is known to interfere with the potential health benefits of the former.