Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) prevents saturated fatty acids and vitamin A from breaking down and combining with other substances that may become harmful to the body. Not surprisingly, fats and oils containing vitamin E are less susceptible to rancidity than those devoid of vitamin E. Vitamin E also has the ability to unite with oxygen and prevent it from being converted into toxic peroxides. This leaves the red blood cells more fully supplied with the pure oxygen that the blood carries to the heart and other organs.