A summary from the book: Healthy through Vitamins by Dr. med.et phil. Gerhard Venzmer (1935 Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung)

Back in the day, in 1922, in the sun-drenched climes of California, three researchers - Evan, Bishop and Sure - made a discovery of groundbreaking importance. This discovery, although its full implications for human life were only gradually becoming clear, captivated the world of biology and physiology to the highest degree.

Evan and his team had exposed rats to every type of diet imaginable when one day they made an astonishing observation: the lack of certain nutritional components led to a drastic impairment of the reproductive ability and fertility of these rodents.

Vitamin E was also called the "reproductive or fertility vitamin" because it was shown to be closely related to reproductive processes, as ongoing experiments clearly demonstrated.

The rats deprived of vitamin E not only experienced a change in their hair coat, but also a dramatic impairment in their reproductive ability. Interestingly, both males and females were affected in different ways by this deficiency of the reproductive vitamin.

In the male rats, the tissue of their gonads and testes degenerated, sperm production stopped, and the animals lost their ability to reproduce. On the other hand, in pregnant females, the lack of vitamin E caused the fetus to die in the middle of pregnancy with alarming certainty, and live offspring were never born.

Amazingly, however, administering vitamin E to the rodent mothers brought subsequent pregnancies back on track, always resulting in the birth of live and healthy offspring.

But that was not all: this particular vitamin also seemed to have a strong influence on the production and secretion of breast milk. The observations showed that the presence of vitamin E in breast milk was crucial for the healthy development of the boys.

Infants born to mothers who received a diet low in vitamins after the birth of their babies grew more slowly and lagged behind in their overall development compared to offspring born to mothers who received sufficient vitamin E. Mortality among the former was also significantly higher.

The fascinating revelations about the importance of vitamin E do not stop with rats. Perhaps one of the most astonishing discoveries of modern vitamin research is the fact that bees, which are of great importance for the well-being of their colony, feed their queen with substances that are particularly rich in vitamins.

It was logical to investigate the effectiveness of this vital substance, which plays such an important role in maintaining fertility and the development of healthy offspring, in humans.The incentive for this was particularly great because nature provides this vitamin in abundant quantities.

Vitamin E in its fat-soluble form is extremely resilient and stable, indeed the most stable of all nutrients, and is found widely in the plant kingdom, particularly in wheat, oats, corn, barley, rice, alfalfa, lettuce, watercress, leaf spinach, cottonseed and other plants.

In addition, vitamin E is found in considerable quantities in the meat of mammals, in glandular organs, and in smaller quantities in milk, butter and egg yolks. However, it is most abundant in the oils of certain grain germs.

Note from HS-ACTIVA: Unfortunately, due to incorrectly prescribed fertilization, the quality of fresh cow's milk and homemade butter is difficult to maintain today!

In 1937, Evan even succeeded in obtaining a crystalline substance from enriched concentrates that had the properties of vitamin E to a particularly high degree. This substance was given the name "tocopherol" and its chemical composition was carefully researched. More recent developments now even make it possible to synthetically produce an acetic acid-containing compound of tocopherol, which is called tocopherol acetate.

In some cases, the administration of vitamin E has helped women who otherwise have lost hope of having healthy children due to premature births. The administration of vitamin E has also proven to be effective in cases of premature cessation of breast milk. In addition, it has been reported that in some cases vitamin E can have a positive effect on sexual weakness and infertility in men in conjunction with conventional hormonal treatment.

Recently, pure vitamin E has even proven to be a therapeutic option for certain muscle-wasting diseases of the nervous system that were previously considered incurable.

Although these findings do not allow a final judgment to be made about the importance of vitamin E for human biology, and in particular the specific need for this substance for humans cannot yet be considered proven, they certainly encourage further research. Healthy mothers and vigorous children undoubtedly form the solid foundation on which the viability and development of a people rest. This research shows that the importance of vitamin E is more far-reaching than was imagined in the past.

In modern representation, vitamin E is often presented as an antioxidant, which is true. This protection of cells is used in orthomolecular nutrient therapy for various health problems such as rheumatism, arthrosis, chronic polyarthritis, blood formation disorders, arteriosclerosis and the protection of the heart muscle. However, it is important to note that animal experiments have also shown that a deficiency in vitamin E can lead to fertility problems, which is why it is also called the fertility vitamin.

It seems that the importance of vitamin E continues to unfold over the years and our understanding of it is far from complete. Viktor Schauberger's wise advice to change the perspective by 180 degrees could be a valuable inspiration. In any case, these research results show that vitamin E plays a key role in biology and health and continues to accompany us on our journey towards a comprehensive understanding of life.