Blog Archives

Certified sustainable palm oil trusted as natural trans fat alternative

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined in June 2015 that partially hydrogenated oil – American’s primary source of artificial trans fats – should be removed from the food supply. Consuming trans fat may raise the level of LDL (or bad) cholesterol in your blood which may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. While the FDA gave food manufacturers three years to remove this unhealthy ingredient from their products, many manufacturers have already made the switch to Malaysian certified sustainable palm oil. This up-and-coming oil is naturally trans fat-free, non-GMO and loaded with nutrients, qualities that are important to many of today’s shoppers.

Read More

Serum Folate, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin A, γ-Tocopherol, α-Tocopherol, and Carotenoids Do Not Modify Associations between Cadmium Exposure and Leukocyte Telomere Length in the General US Adult Population.

Nomura SJ, Robien K, Zota AR.

J Nutr. 2017 Mar 8. pii: jn243162. doi: 10.3945/jn.116.243162. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a biomarker of the aging process and is associated with the risk of chronic disease. Higher exposure to cadmium may be associated with shorter LTL, and adequate nutrient concentrations may be associated with longer LTL; however, the potential interaction between metals and nutrients on LTL has yet to be examined.Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether serum concentrations of vitamins and carotenoids were associated with LTL, and whether they modified the association between blood cadmium and LTL in the US NHANES (1999-2002).Methods: We evaluated cross-sectional associations between LTL and serum concentrations of vitamin A, γ-tocopherol, α-tocopherol, folate, and vitamin B-12 (1999-2002; n = 7458) and α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein + zeaxanthin, and lycopene (2001-2002; n = 4018) in a nationally representative sample of US adults (≥20 y of age) with the use of multivariable linear regression. We further investigated whether vitamin and carotenoid concentrations modified associations between blood cadmium and LTL with models stratified by serum nutrient concentrations and the inclusion of an interaction term.Results: Blood cadmium was inversely associated with LTL (percentage of LTL difference per 1 μg/L = -3.74; 95% CI: -5.35, -2.10). Serum vitamin A was positively associated (percentage of LTL difference per 1 μg/L = 4.01; 95% CI: 0.26, 7.90) and γ-tocopherol was inversely associated (percentage of LTL difference per 1 μg/dL = -2.49; 95% CI: -4.21, -0.73) with LTL. Serum folate (P-trend = 0.06) and α-tocopherol (P-trend = 0.10) were marginally positively associated with LTL, whereas vitamin B-12 (P-trend = 0.78) was not associated with LTL. Serum carotenoids were generally positively associated with LTL. Serum vitamin and carotenoid concentrations did not modify blood cadmium and LTL associations (P-interaction > 0.10).Conclusions: Results from this cross-sectional study suggest that exposure to cadmium and certain nutrients may be associated with LTL in US adults, but the serum concentrations of the vitamins and carotenoids evaluated did not modify cross-sectional associations between cadmium exposure and LTL.

Read More

This Trendy New Supplement Supposedly Tastes Like Vanilla Ice Cream And Makes Your Skin Glow—Is It Too Good To Be True?

What if there was a clean, nutrient-dense sweetener that could make your coffee taste like vanilla ice cream and make your skin glow—would you try it? Of course you would. Which is why when I first heard about tocos, the cool It supplement, I headed straight to Amazon and clicked “add to cart.”

Tocos? Yup, it’s kind of a weird name, and the first time you look it up, Google or autocorrect will be convinced that what you’re really trying to say is TACOS. But tocos is actually short for tocotrienols—a fat-soluble form of vitamin E that’s highly bioavailable (meaning, it’s super easy for your body to absorb).

Read More

9 Signs You’re Vitamin E Deficient

Vitamin E is like the bouncer to stress chemicals in your body. For your brain, that’s important because there are so many toxic chemicals that need to be kicked out of the party. In addition to that, it also supports healthy insulin, healthy triglyceride levels, blood sugar balance, pancreatic function, eyesight and heart health. A jack of all trades. So much can go right by making sure your Vitamin E intake is up to par. Here are some symptoms showing you may need more Vitamin E…..

Read More

Mothers with Low Vitamin E Levels More Likely to Have Children with Asthma?

Children born to mothers with low vitamin E levels may be more likely to require asthma medications, according to data presented this week at the 2017 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

The study, from researchers at Vanderbilt and Northwestern University, followed 652 children and their mothers for the first 2 years of the child’s life. Researchers used post-pregnancy maternal samples to test mothers for 2 constituents, or isoforms, of vitamin E including alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol. There are 8 different isoforms, of which alpha- and gamma-tocopherol are the ones that scientists know the most about.

Read More

SheKnows.com tells readers to ‘spring clean’ their diets with palm oil

Stoler specifically mentioned Malaysian certified sustainable palm oil as a way to incorporate healthy fats into meals and ‘spring clean’ the daily diet. “One of my favorite healthy fats is palm oil. It is naturally free of trans fats and it is non-GMO. Malaysian palm oil is a rich source of vitamin E tocotrienols, which support brain and heart health.” Palm oil also contains carotenoids, a source of vitamin A that may help protect against cancer and heart disease. “Palm oil’s fatty acids and antioxidants help raise beneficial HDL cholesterol,” Stoler added.

Read More

 

Using vitamin E to prevent the impairment in behavioral test, cell loss and dendrite changes in medial prefrontal cortex induced by tartrazine in rats.

Rafati A, Nourzei N, Karbalay-Doust S, Noorafshan A.

Acta Histochem. 2017 Mar;119(2):172-180. doi: 10.1016/j.acthis.2017.01.004. Epub 2017 Jan 23.

Abstract

Tartrazine is a food color that may adversely affect the nervous system. Vitamin E is a neuro-protective agent. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of tartrazine and vitamin E on the performance of rats in memory and learning tests as well as the structure of medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC). The rats were first divided into seven groups which received the followings for a period of seven weeks: distilled water, corn oil, vitamin E (100mg/kg/day), a low dose (50mg/kg/day) and a high dose (50mg/kg/day) of tartrazine with and without vitamin E. Behavioral tests were conducted and the brain was extracted for stereological methods The high dose of tartrazine decreased the exploration time of novel objects (P<0.01). The low and high doses of tartrazine led into an increase in working and reference memory errors in acquisition and retention phases (eight-arm radial maze) compared to distilled water group (P<0.01). Additionally, the high dose of tartrazine induced a reduction in the volume of mPFC (∼13%) and its subdivision. Not only that, but the number of neurons and glial cells (∼14%) as well as the mushroom and thin spines per dendrite length declined. The length of dendrites per neuron also reduced in comparison to the distilled water group (P<0.01). Nonetheless, concomitant treatment of the rats with vitamin E plus tartrazine prevented the above-mentioned changes. An acceptable daily dose of tartrazine could induce impairment in spatial memory and dendrite structure. Moreover, a high dose of tartrazine may defect the visual memory, mPFC structure, the spatial memory and also cause dendrite changes. Vitamin E could prevent the behavioral and structural changes.

Read More

miRNA-218-loaded carboxymethyl chitosan – Tocopherol nanoparticle to suppress the proliferation of gastrointestinal stromal tumor growth.

Tu L, Wang M, Zhao WY, Zhang ZZ, Tang DF, Zhang YQ, Cao H, Zhang ZG.

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2017 Mar 1;72:177-184. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2016.10.052. Epub 2016 Oct 26.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are one of the most common forms of mesenchymal cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Although chemotherapeutic drugs inhibited the proliferation of GIST, however, sizable proportion of people developed resistance and therefore difficult to treat. In the present study, O-carboxymethyl chitosan (OCMC)-tocopherol polymer conjugate was synthesized and formulated into stable polymeric nanoparticles. The main aim of present study was to increase the therapeutic efficacy of miR-218 in GIST. The mean size of nanoparticles was ~110nm with a spherical shape. The miR-218 NP has been shown inhibit the cell proliferation and exhibited a superior cell apoptosis. The miR-218 NP inhibited the cell invasion and promoted the apoptosis of GIST cancer cells. In the present study, we have successfully showed that KIT1 is the target gene of miR-218 as shown by the luciferase reporter assay. These findings collectively suggest the miR-218 loaded nanoparticle by virtue of effective transfection could act as a tumor suppressor miRNA in the treatment of GIST.

Read More

Gamma-tocopherol supplementation ameliorated hyper-inflammatory response during the early cutaneous wound healing in alloxan-induced diabetic mice.

Shin J, Yang SJ, Lim Y.

Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2017 Mar;242(5):505-515. doi: 10.1177/1535370216683836. Epub 2016 Dec 13.

Abstract

Delayed wound healing is one of the major diabetic complications. During wound healing process, the early inflammatory stage is important for better prognosis. One of antioxidant nutrient, gamma-tocopherol (GT) is considered to regulate inflammatory conditions. This study investigated the effect of GT supplementation on mechanism associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis during early cutaneous wound healing in diabetic mice. Diabetes was induced by alloxan injection in ICR mice. All mice were divided into three groups: non-diabetic control mice (CON), diabetic control mice (DMC), and diabetic mice supplemented with GT (GT). After two weeks of GT supplementation, excisional wounds were made by biopsy punches (4 mm). Diabetic mice showed increases in fasting blood glucose (FBG) level, hyper-inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and delayed wound closure rate compared to non-diabetic mice. However, GT supplementation reduced FBG level and accelerated wound closure rate by regulation of inflammatory response-related proteins such as nuclear factor kappa B, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and c-reactive protein, and oxidative stress-related markers including nuclear factor (erythroid derived 2)-like 2, NAD(P)H dehydrogenase quinone1, heme oxygenase-1, manganese superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and apoptosis-related markers such as sirtuin-1, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1- α, and p53 in diabetic mice. Taken together, GT would be a potential therapeutic to prevent diabetes-induced delayed wound healing by regulation of inflammatory response, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. Impact statement Gamma tocopherol has shown ameliorative effect on diabetic wound healing by regulation of inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis demonstrated by nuclear factor kappa B, nuclear factor (erythroid derived 2)-like 2, and sirtuin-1.

Read More

Ochratoxin A cytotoxicity on Madin-Darby canine kidney cells in the presence of alpha-tocopherol: Effects on cell viability and tight junctions.

Fusi E, Giromini C, Rebucci R, Pinotti L, Caprarulo V, Cheli F, Vitari F, Domeneghini C, Baldi A.

J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2017 Mar 1. doi: 10.1111/jpn.12682. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a potent nephrotoxic fungi metabolite that affects animal and human health. At the cellular level, OTA is able to alter functions and viability by several mechanisms of action. Several strategies to counteract its toxicity have been studied. We investigated the role of α-tocopherol in counteracting OTA oxidative damage in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells by pre-incubating the cells for 3 hr with the antioxidant (1 nm, 10 μm) and then adding OTA (0-1.2 μg/ml) for the following 24 hr. Cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, TUNEL staining and occludin and Zo1 localization by immunofluorescence were determined. Here, 1 nm α-tocopherol was shown to significantly reduce (p < .05) the cytotoxicity, LDH release and apoptotic rate induced by OTA. The presence of the antioxidant at the same concentration maintained the localization of occludin and Zo1 in the rim of the MDCK cells after the 24-hr OTA exposure. These results indicate that a low concentration of α-tocopherol could block OTA toxicity, supporting its defensive role in the cellular membrane.

Read More