Vitamin E: From Fertility Factor to Commercial Icon

In December 1922, Herbert M. Evans, M.D. and Katharine Scott Bishop, M.D., working together at the University of California, Berkeley, published in Science their report on “a hitherto unrecognized dietary factor essential for reproduction.” Their experiments with laboratory rats revealed that even on diets containing sufficient protein, carbohydrates, fat, and the known vitamins, the animals failed to reproduce. Only when the diet was supplemented with certain plant materials, particularly green leafy matter or wheat germ, were pregnancies carried to term. This observation indicated the presence of a new, fat-soluble vitamin—one that was vital for fertility.

The years that followed were devoted to isolating this fertility factor. In 1936, Evans, working with Oliver H. Emerson and Gladys Anderson Emerson, succeeded in extracting an active compound from wheat-germ oil. They named it alpha-tocopherol, a word devised with the help of George M. Calhoun, a professor of Greek at Berkeley. Combining tókos (childbirth) and phérein (to carry), with the suffix -ol to mark an alcohol, they created a name that literally meant “the alcohol that carries childbirth.” The name elegantly tied the new molecule to its biological function in reproductive health.

Because wheat-germ oil was the source of the successful isolation, it quickly became the first widespread commercial source of vitamin E. That same year, 1936, the Viobin Company was established in Monticello, Illinois, to extract and concentrate wheat-germ oil for dietary and cosmetic use, and soon after bottles of Viobin wheat-germ oil began appearing on the shelves of early health food stores. By the 1940s, Viobin’s wheat-germ oil was widely cited in scientific literature and used in food and health applications. Viobin promoted its oil as a source of vigor and vitality, selling it not only as a dietary aid but also for cosmetic purposes such as skin and hair care. Advertisements stressed the “natural” qualities of wheat germ and connected it to both health and beauty, reflecting the era’s growing fascination with natural food products. Vitamin E had thus made the leap from laboratory benches at Berkeley to a product line visible to both physicians and consumers, serving as a bridge between science and the emerging health food movement.

Beginning in the 1940s, Evan Vere Shute, M.D., and his brother Wilfrid E. Shute, M.D., experimented with high-dose vitamin E therapy for cardiovascular disease. At their Shute Medical Clinic in London, Ontario, they reported that patients with angina, congestive heart disease, or vascular insufficiency improved on 200–600 milligrams of alpha-tocopheryl acetate daily. In 1946, they published a note in Nature describing observations of relief from chest pain, increased exercise tolerance, and reduced fluid retention in cardiac patients. They subsequently published Your Heart and Vitamin E in 1956 and The Heart and Vitamin E in 1963, using these books to promote vitamin E as a therapeutic nutrient in the prevention and treatment of coronary and circulatory disorders.

The supplement industry also came to include A.C. Grace Company, founded in 1962 by Roy Erickson in Big Sandy, Texas. After experiencing cardiovascular health challenges, Erickson devised an all-natural form of vitamin E for himself and began selling it to friends, health professionals, and supplement retailers. The company’s flagship product was UNIQUE E®, a mixed tocopherol formula marketed as pure, additive-free, and derived from soybean extraction (refined to remove soy oil). A.C. Grace emphasized that their product contained all four natural tocopherols—alpha, gamma, delta, and beta—in a concentrate, and avoided fillers, colors, or oils that could degrade stability. Their insistence on purity and mixed tocopherols distinguished them in a crowded supplement field, and their product was repeatedly singled out in independent testing for quality and potency.

Another commercial milestone arrived in 1965, when husband-and-wife team Susan Carlson and John Carlson founded Carlson Laboratories in Chicago, Illinois. Their first product was a natural-source vitamin E supplement, inspired by improvements observed in Susan Carlson’s father when he used alpha-tocopheryl succinate. Susan, a pharmacist, managed early operations, while John later became President. Carlson built its identity around high-quality natural vitamin E from the start. Carlson soon began adding other high-quality, natural-source vitamin and mineral supplements, expanding the company into one of the best-known names in the health products field.

These variations in product philosophy reflect deeper scientific points about natural versus synthetic vitamin E. Here’s the simplified, accurate picture:

• Natural-source vitamin E comes from plant oils (such as wheat germ, sunflower, or soybean) and occurs as a family of related compounds: the tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) and the related tocotrienols, which also come in alpha, beta, gamma, and delta forms. Foods usually provide a mixture of these forms. The body preferentially maintains alpha-tocopherol in the blood via a transport protein, even though the diet supplies the broader mix.
• Synthetic vitamin E is made by chemical synthesis, typically from petrochemical feedstocks rather than plant oils. The result is dl-alpha-tocopherol (also called all-rac-alpha-tocopherol), a blend of eight slightly different isomers; only some are used efficiently by the body.
• Because synthetic alpha-tocopherol is a mixed-isomer product, natural forms are more potent per milligram—roughly 1.5 to 2 times more effective at raising blood and tissue alpha-tocopherol levels.
• Beyond alpha, the other tocopherols and the tocotrienols contribute complementary antioxidant and biological roles. High intakes of alpha alone can reduce circulating gamma levels; mixed tocopherol (and, in some products, tocotrienol) formulations aim to mirror the diversity found in whole foods and may offer broader coverage.

From Evans and Bishop’s rat studies in 1922, to Evans’ isolation of alpha-tocopherol in 1936, to the wheat-germ oils of Viobin, to the megavitamin experiments of the Shutes, and onward to the commercial successes of A.C. Grace and Carlson, the trajectory of vitamin E reveals the promise of nutritional science. Its discovery was rigorous, its naming poetic, and its commercialization rapid. Its therapeutic reputation has shifted over time, yet its role as a foundational antioxidant endures. Today, discussions over natural vs synthetic forms, and single-isomer versus mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols, remain central to how vitamin E is understood — and marketed.

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