Vitamin E is an essential nutrient for human health and added tocopherols in foods can help maintain adequate levels. However, supplementation with vitamin E has demonstrated mixed results, with some studies suggesting increased associations with mortality from supplementation while others suggesting neuroprotective benefits or improvements in various biomarkers from supplementation. This may be largely due to differences in populations in which supplementation with dietary antioxidants seems to benefit some and harm others. While tocopherols included in foods may be included at a much lower rate than supplementation, the addition of them in food could cause even higher levels of intake for people who supplement with vitamin E already. Tocopherols for use as a food additive are processed from seed oils. The heating of seed oils creates oxidation and rancidity. Prolonged consumption of heated vegetable or seed oils repeatedly has been shown to increase blood pressure, total cholesterol, and vascular inflammation. In addition, hexane is used in the production of all seed oils. Hexane isomer has been shown to be neurotoxic to humans. In addition, hexane has been listed as a cause of occupational diseases in several European countries since the 1970s. Foods rich in vitamin E contain naturally occurring tocopherols and are safe and anti-inflammatory, as the tocopherols are naturally occurring and not synthetic or processed. The safest way to absorb vitamin E is by eating foods rich in the nutrient. However, the amounts of tocopherols consumed as additives in foods is likely much smaller than the amounts consumed in supplements and may still promote a beneficial antioxidant effect.