Vitamin E: The Seasonal Key to Cellular Repair and Mineral Balance

 Season 2: Episode #3: Vitamin E: The Seasonal Key to Cellular Repair and Mineral Balance

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In today's world of processed oils and year-round food availability, we've lost touch with one of our ancestors' most crucial nutritional patterns: seasonal consumption of complete vitamin E complex foods. As a mineral balancing practitioner, I've discovered that returning to these ancestral eating patterns provides powerful support for cellular repair, particularly for clients recovering from years of damaged fat consumption—just one of the many modern challenges we face, but the one I'm highlighting today.

As we transition into spring, I'm adjusting my own food and supplements based on my latest HTMA results—a practice I follow each season. This approach aligns with my personal rewilding journey and the core philosophy of rewilded wellness: slowing down, creating space, and restoring connection to what truly matters.

Many of us are still recovering from the immense stressors of the past five years. Remember that deep healing cannot occur when our lives are filled with elements that drain rather than build our vitality. Only when we establish some steadiness can we truly begin to rebuild.

I've noticed more clients arriving already familiar with organ supplements, especially liver. This presents an excellent opportunity to discuss a seasonal, rotational approach to organ consumption—something our ancestors understood intuitively.

I find it can take a solid 1 1⁄2-2 years to deeply repair and that's when you get the bad fats out for good and keep them out. During this time, incorporating a lifestyle around proper sun/light exposure and consuming fat-soluble vitamins becomes essential for supporting cellular repair. Today, I'll explore how to incorporate vitamin E seasonally this spring, sharing strategies I've developed for myself and my clients.

Never feel pressured to implement everything at once. Just as we gradually introduce new foods to babies before they learn to walk, your healing journey requires time to build proper foundations for successful mineral balancing and cellular health restoration.

The Forgotten Rhythm of Vitamin E: Our Ancestors' Seasonal Approach

Our ancestors didn't have vitamin E supplements or "fortified" foods. Instead, they relied on a rotating seasonal menu of vitamin E-rich foods that provided the complete complex exactly when their bodies needed it most.

Spring: Nature's Cellular Renewal Season

As winter's grip loosened, northern ancestors prioritized:

• Fresh spring liver from young animals feeding on new growth grasses

• Fish roe harvested during spring spawning runs

• Lamb brain and thymus (sweetbreads) from spring births

• Early spring greens like dandelion and nettles

• Fresh eggs as poultry resumed laying with longer daylight

This spring vitamin E surge wasn't accidental—it aligned perfectly with the body's natural cellular repair cycle after winter's metabolic slowdown.

The Forgotten Superstars: Fish Roe and Organ Meats

Among these seasonal foods, two categories stand out for their exceptional vitamin E profiles: fish roe and organ meats.

Fish Roe: Nature's Perfect Vitamin E Package

Spring and fall spawning runs provided our ancestors with one of nature's most complete vitamin E sources:

• Fish roe contains all eight vitamin E compounds (tocopherols and tocotrienols)

• The vitamin E in roe comes bound to phospholipids, making it exceptionally bioavailable

• Roe's vitamin E exists alongside the exact fatty acids and minerals needed for cellular repair

• The selenium-vitamin E synergy in roe provides unmatched protection against environmental toxins

• Traditional cultures prioritized roe for women of reproductive age and growing children

Coastal and river-dwelling ancestors timed significant gatherings around spawning runs, recognizing roe's irreplaceable nutritional value. They consumed it fresh during spring and fall, preserving some through drying and smoking for less abundant seasons.

Organ Meats: The Vitamin E Matrix We've Abandoned

(but it’s making a comeback)

Our ancestors consumed the entire animal, with special emphasis on organs that we now discard:

• Liver contains the most balanced vitamin E profile of any organ, with higher gamma-tocopherol than most plant sources

• Brain provides vitamin E in a unique phospholipid matrix that directly supports cellular membrane structure

• Heart contains tissue-specific vitamin E compounds that protect against oxidative stress

• Kidney offers vitamin E alongside detoxification co-factors

• Thymus and thyroid provide vitamin E in forms that support immune and metabolic function

These organs were consumed according to seasonal availability, with spring organs particularly valued for their renewal properties.

Vitamin E and Mineral Balancing: My Clinical Perspective

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) frequently reveals patterns that our ancestors would have intuitively addressed through seasonal eating. Modern clients with mineral imbalances are often struggling with the cellular consequences of poor-quality fats and year-round consumption of the same limited foods.

The Cellular Damage Cycle I See on HTMA

When I examine a client's HTMA results, certain patterns immediately signal vitamin E deficiency and cellular membrane damage:

Low tissue sodium and potassium: When HTMA reveals low tissue sodium and potassium levels and/or a low sodium to potassium ratio we're seeing direct evidence of cellular energy failure. The sodium-potassium pump, which requires substantial energy to function, cannot maintain proper mineral gradients across cell membranes when those membranes have been compromised by damaged fats and vitamin E deficiency. This creates a downward spiral - damaged membranes can't support proper energy production, leading to further mineral transport failure. The cell essentially "leaks" these critical electrolytes, unable to maintain the electrical potential necessary for proper function. This pattern is one of the most reliable indicators of long-term cellular membrane damage that specifically needs vitamin E complex restoration.

Elevated calcium relative to magnesium: The calcium-to-magnesium ratio on HTMA provides profound insight into cell membrane flexibility. When calcium becomes disproportionately elevated compared to magnesium, cell membranes lose their fluidity and become rigid - similar to how calcium hardens arteries over time. This rigidity is directly connected to the types of fats incorporated into the membrane structure. Trans fats, oxidized vegetable oils, and other damaged fats create stiff, inflexible membranes that resist proper signaling and transport. The complete vitamin E complex serves as both protection against this damage and a restorative element that helps normalize this critical mineral ratio by supporting proper membrane function and magnesium retention.

Poor zinc absorption despite supplementation: One of the most frustrating patterns I see is clients who supplement with zinc yet show little improvement in their HTMA zinc levels. Of course the way we interpret zinc is not this direct - as a level there are many other factors to consider. However, this situation can point directly to impaired transport mechanisms that depend on healthy cell membrane function. Zinc requires specific transporters that are embedded in cell membranes - when these membranes are damaged from poor-quality fats and lack of vitamin E protection, zinc simply cannot enter cells efficiently regardless of how much you supplement. The vitamin E complex specifically protects these delicate transport proteins from oxidative damage, allowing zinc to finally reach its intracellular destinations. 

Mercury or aluminum exposure and retention: Heavy metals like mercury and aluminum create widespread oxidative damage, overwhelming the body's detoxification systems. Selenium is a primary defender against these metals, but cannot function properly without adequate vitamin E. On HTMA, I often see toxic metal retention patterns that reveal this exact scenario - the selenium-vitamin E partnership has broken down, leaving cells vulnerable to metal-induced damage. Vitamin E protects the very cellular transport systems needed to safely escort these metals out of the body.

Copper dysregulation: When I see copper imbalances on HTMA - whether elevated, hidden, or deficient - it almost always indicates underlying oxidative stress and compromised antioxidant systems. Copper is highly reactive when not properly bound to transport proteins, creating cascades of free radical damage throughout the body. Vitamin E serves as a primary protective barrier, particularly in cell membranes where copper-induced lipid peroxidation can be most destructive. Without adequate vitamin E, copper loses its controlled beneficial functions and becomes a contributor to cellular damage. Restoring complete vitamin E complex is often a missing key to reestablishing healthy copper metabolism and utilization.

These patterns tell a story of cells whose protective membranes have been compromised by years of consuming damaged fats while lacking the protective vitamin E complex our ancestors obtained seasonally.

The Bad Fat Connection

Let’s be honest, most of us have spent many years of our lives consuming:

• Processed vegetable oils (soybean, canola, corn)

• Trans fats from packaged foods

• Rancid nuts and seeds stored improperly

• Overheated cooking oils

• Factory-farmed animal products with distorted fat profiles

*I personally grew up with the plastic vegetable oil container we used for everything in the cupboard right next to the crisco -we used real butter but if there was a sale my mom bought smething else such as country crock or ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter’ We ate peanut butter on the regular - rarely ate nuts other than at Christmas time and none of our meat was pasture raised or grassfed. *

Now here’s what These damaged fats do -they become incorporated into cell membranes, creating:

1. Rigid, dysfunctional cell surfaces

2. Compromised receptor sites for hormones

3. Damaged transport channels for minerals

4. Impaired cellular communication

5. Reduced energy production

The cell membrane becomes the battleground where mineral balance is either won or lost.

The Rewilding - Ancestral Solution in Modern Practice

When I see these patterns, I implement recommendations inspired by ancestral wisdom but adapted to modern realities:

Phase 1: Remove the Damaging Fats

• Eliminate all processed vegetable oils

• Remove all sources of trans fats

• Audit cooking methods to prevent fat oxidation 

• Introduce proper food storage practices

• Create a "clean fat" kitchen environment

I talked about this more in my episode 131 from June of 2022 Are your cells made of plastic? Find that episode HERE.

Phase 2: Provide Complete Vitamin E Complex Support

Say a little blurb about the lab’s recommendations always want us to give a vitamin E supplement but I prefer to use food with all the fat soluble vitamins or a food based supplement

This is where ancestral foods become critical. I recommend:

• Fish roe supplement: 3-6 capsules daily of whole, freeze-dried roe

• Grass-fed liver: Either fresh or as a desiccated supplement

• Pastured egg yolks: 2-3 daily from verified pastured sources

• Cold-pressed, unrefined oils: In small amounts with meals

• Fresh nuts and seeds: Properly soaked and freshly ground (this one is tough I’m still working on it - my goal is to eat nuts and seeds seasonally and make my own nut/seed butters) There are so many great nuts seeds we can’t buy commercially but we can forage/harvest in season to store. One example  would be saving all your pumpkin and winter squash seeds in the fall to brine and dry - eat some then and store some for later. 

These provide the complete vitamin E complex needed for cellular repair—not just alpha-tocopherol but all eight compounds in natural ratios.

I talked more about all the fat soluble vitamins in episode 130 also from June of 2022: Regenerative Farming Tour & The Fat Soluble Vitamins 

And finally
Phase 3: Support the Cellular Renewal Cycle

• Implement targeted mineral supplementation based on HTMA results

• Provide phospholipid support (often from sunflower lecithin)

• Include selenium in organic forms

• Support bile production for proper fat absorption

• Address gut health to maximize nutrient uptake

Learn more about bile production in my post: The Sluggish Bile Connection to Slow Metabolism HERE. And get my recipe for chicken liver pate HERE.

The Renewal Timeline: What to Expect

I typically don’t recommend strict diets or detoxes as you may well already know - however one of the best detoxes you can do is to get the bad fats out of your life -that is one way in which a cleanse/detox could be a good thing if you turn this into a lifelong habit -give it a full year commitment and keep going by year 2 you will have a lot more stability in your body in a myriad of ways related to cellular repair and you will have created and established a crucial pillar for optimal lifelong health.

Let's go  on a cellular renewal journey that follows the natural timeline of cell membrane turnover:

First 30 days: Initial stabilization as vitamin E levels begin rising and damaged fat consumption stops
30-90 days: Early membrane repair with improvements in energy and digestive function
90-120 days: Major cellular renewal as red blood cells and many tissues complete their turnover cycle
4-6 months: Significant shifts in mineral patterns as transport systems regenerate
6-12 months: Deep tissue renewal and restored metabolic function

This timeline mimics the seasonal renewal cycle our ancestors experienced naturally, albeit compressed through intentional nutritional support.

Modern Challenges Requiring Extra Support

Unlike our ancestors who moved through these cycles naturally, modern humans often need additional support:

• Higher vitamin E requirements due to greater environmental toxin exposure

• Digestive enzyme support to compensate for compromised digestive function

• Strategic supplementation to address severe deficiencies

• Detoxification support as stored toxins release during cellular renovation

• Emotional support through the sometimes challenging renewal process

The Return to Ancestral Wisdom & why I’m taking a stand that we rewild our wellness 

The most profound lesson I've learned through my years of  mineral balancing work is that our bodies still operate on ancestral timelines and expectations. When we align our nutrition with these innate patterns, remarkable healing becomes possible.

Be sure to tune into the episode for the full conversation packed with practical insights, client wins and my nutrition philosophies - and feel free to listen on 1.5 to 2x. speed -it's a meaty episode. Enjoy! 

The Vitamin E Revolution in Mineral Balance

The relationship between vitamin E and mineral balance isn't just another nutritional factoid—it's a fundamental principle that connects our cellular biology to the seasonal rhythms our ancestors lived by.

When we restore this connection through intentional consumption of foods like fish roe and organ meats, we're not just taking a supplement. We're realigning our bodies with natural patterns that have supported human health for millennia.

In my  practice, addressing vitamin E status through ancestral foods has become a core foundation upon which all other interventions are built. Without this cellular membrane integrity, no amount of mineral supplementation can achieve lasting balance.

The damage done by modern processed fats is substantial, but the body's capacity for renewal is remarkable when given the right tools. Those tools aren't found in bottles of isolated alpha-tocopherol, but in the complex symphony of nutrients provided by the foods our ancestors valued most.

As you consider your own health journey, I encourage you to look beyond the reductionist view of individual nutrients and embrace the holistic wisdom embedded in traditional food patterns. Your cells carry the ancestral memory of these foods—they recognize and respond to the complete nutritional matrices found in fish roe, organ meats, and other traditional vitamin E sources.

The path to mineral balance and cellular health isn't about adding another supplement to your regimen. It's about rewilding your nutrition—returning to the foods that have sustained human health throughout our evolutionary history. In that return to wildness lies not just physical healing, but a profound reconnection to the wisdom of the natural world that our ancestors understood intimately.

The Beautiful Synergy of Nature's Design

The beauty of this ancestral approach is that by focusing on vitamin E-rich traditional foods, we simultaneously address the entire spectrum of fat-soluble nutrients our bodies require. While modern supplementation often isolates nutrients—vitamin A here, vitamin D there, vitamin K somewhere else—our ancestors received these nutrients together, as nature intended.

Fish roe delivers not just vitamin E, but significant amounts of vitamin D, vitamin A, and vitamin K2—all working in concert. Organ meats provide the complete vitamin complex alongside their cofactor minerals in forms our bodies inherently recognize and utilize efficiently.

We've become so focused on higher and higher doses of isolated nutrients that we've forgotten the profound wisdom in nature's packaging. The relatively modest mineral content in organ meats is often more beneficial than massive doses of isolated minerals precisely because these foods contain all the cofactors needed for proper utilization.
^ and I used to fall for this myself but it just didn’t make sense to me as this is a long game for me a lifestyle -not a quick fix. That’s what many supplements are a quick fix - sure they have their place but if you ask me it’s a very disconnected way to approach nutrition -which is a beautiful deep rich way of life. 

In some health circles, there can be a hyperfocus on  vitamin D in isolation. Yet our ancestors never consumed these nutrients in isolation. They received them together, in natural ratios, alongside the very cofactors that allowed their bodies to use them properly.

This approach doesn't just simplify our nutritional strategy—it aligns it with our biological heritage. Rather than needing dozens of supplements to repair cellular damage or target each fat-soluble nutrient separately, we can return to the foundational foods that provide everything in its proper form and balance.

Non-food-based supplements remain foreign to our biological systems, requiring extra energy for processing and often creating imbalances elsewhere. Our bodies haven't evolved to recognize isolated nutrients packaged in capsules. They recognize food—real, whole, ancestral food that speaks the language of our cells.

By rewilding our nutrition through ancestral vitamin E-rich foods, we're not just addressing one nutrient deficiency. We're restoring the entire network of nutritional relationships that our cells evolved to expect. This is the true path to mineral balance and cellular wellness.

As a functional nutrition practitioner specializing in Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, I help clients restore cellular health through ancestral nutrition principles. My Rewilded Wellness approach combines traditional wisdom with modern testing to address the root causes of mineral imbalances and support true healing through reconnection with natural rhythms and foods our bodies inherently recognize. Learn more about how you and I can work together HERE.