To E or not to E?

The relationship between alpha- and gamma-tocopherols is not yet clearly understood.

Meat and milk are relatively poor sources of vitamin E. The richest sources are nuts and vegetables and products made with them. The relative amounts of alpha-T and gamma-T vary greatly among sources.

Source	alpha-T	gamma-T (mg/100 g food*)
Beef, broiled	0.45	0.06
Canned peaches	1.50	0
Almonds	15.9	0.60
Pecans	0.13	25.2
Margarine, soybean	4.76	4.2
Canola oil	17.6	27.4
Corn oil	14.3	64.9
Olive oil	19.3	0.8
Safflower oil	52.2	4.2
Sesame oil	1.4	15.2

* Values from Lehmann J, et al. Vitamin E in foods from high and low linoleic acid diets. J Amer Diet Assoc 1986;86:1208-16; and from McLaughlin PJ, Weihrauch JL. Vitamin E content of foods. J Am Diet Assoc 1979;75:647-65.