Quick answer

Wheat germ oil is the richest common source, with 20.3 mg of vitamin E per tablespoon, more than the 15 mg adults need in a day. An ounce of dry-roasted sunflower seeds has 7.4 mg and an ounce of dry-roasted almonds 6.8 mg. Sunflower and safflower oils, hazelnuts and peanut butter follow.¹

Key facts

A food with 3 mg or more per serving, 20% of the Daily Value, counts as a high source of vitamin E.¹
The vitamin E Americans eat is mostly gamma-tocopherol, while the body holds on mainly to alpha-tocopherol.¹
The amounts in NIH's food table are for alpha-tocopherol, the form the recommended amount is based on.¹
Vitamin E from food has not been found to cause any harm.¹

Vitamin E in common foods

Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) per serving, from NIH's table of USDA data¹
Food	mg per serving	% Daily Value
Wheat germ oil, 1 tablespoon	20.3	135
Sunflower seeds, dry roasted, 1 ounce	7.4	49
Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce	6.8	45
Sunflower oil, 1 tablespoon	5.6	37
Safflower oil, 1 tablespoon	4.6	31
Hazelnuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce	4.3	29
Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons	2.9	19
Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce	2.2	15
Corn oil, 1 tablespoon	1.9	13
Spinach, boiled, half cup	1.9	13
Broccoli, chopped, boiled, half cup	1.2	8
Soybean oil, 1 tablespoon	1.1	7
Kiwifruit, 1 medium	1.1	7
Mango, sliced, half cup	0.7	5
Tomato, raw, 1 medium	0.7	5
Spinach, raw, 1 cup	0.6	4

Oils, nuts and seeds, and greens

Green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli provide some vitamin E, as do kiwifruit, mango and tomato.^1,2

Vitamin E is added to some breakfast cereals, fruit juices, margarines and spreads; the product label shows which.²

Put together, an ounce of almonds and a tablespoon of sunflower oil in cooking give 12.4 mg, most of the 15 mg an adult needs. Greens and fruit add smaller amounts: half a cup of boiled spinach has 1.9 mg.¹

Gamma-tocopherol and the other forms in food

Most vitamin E in American diets is gamma-tocopherol, from soybean, canola, corn and other vegetable oils, but the body keeps mainly alpha-tocopherol.¹

Food contains eight forms of vitamin E. The recommended amount counts alpha-tocopherol alone, because it is the only form the body maintains in the blood, and NIH notes that the other forms have been studied much less.¹

USDA's FoodData Central lists alpha-, beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol separately for some foods, if you want to see how much gamma-tocopherol a food holds.¹

Foods with vitamin E and vitamin C or A

Foods in NIH's tables that supply vitamin E and vitamin C^1,3
Food	Vitamin E, mg	Vitamin C, mg
Kiwifruit, 1 medium	1.1	64
Broccoli, boiled, half cup	1.2	51
Tomato, raw, 1 medium	0.7	17

None of these is a high source of vitamin E on its own. For vitamin E together with vitamin A, spinach is the clearest match in NIH's lists, and mango and broccoli carry some of each.^1,4

Can food give you too much?

Vitamin E that is naturally present in food and drinks has not been found to cause harm and does not need to be limited.^1,2

The upper limit of 1,000 mg a day is for supplements, so eating more of these foods is not a vitamin E concern.²

Questions people ask

Can you get enough vitamin E from food?

Yes, if oils, nuts and seeds are part of your diet: an ounce of almonds gives 6.8 mg of the 15 mg adults need. National surveys suggest most Americans eat less than that, though the estimates may miss fats added in cooking.¹

Which nuts are highest in vitamin E?

Of the nuts and seeds NIH lists, dry-roasted sunflower seeds lead with 7.4 mg per ounce, then almonds at 6.8 mg and hazelnuts at 4.3 mg. Peanuts have 2.2 mg per ounce.¹

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This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.