PUTRAJAYA: As global palm oil consumption increases over the decades to 50 million tonnes a year, so has the intensity of smear campaigns against the industry. “The US$40 billion (RM177 billion) global palm oil trade makes up almost 60 per cent of the world’s vegetable oil market. But the bigger the palm oil industry, the easier it is for smear campaigns to target our planters,” Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong told NST Business in an interview, here.
In the almost 100 years since its discovery, vitamin E has been recognized as an antioxidant. However, recent findings suggest that the compound and its metabolites have roles that go beyond metabolism, gene regulation, immunomodulation, and neuroprotection. Free Radical Biology and Medicine has published a review of emerging aspects and future directions of vitamin E research in its November 2016 issue. This information, they believe, can help guide nutritional recommendations and trials on age-related and chronic disease prevention.
“The research showed that people with metabolic syndrome need about 30-50 percent more vitamin E than those who are generally healthy,” reported lead author Maret Traber of the Linus Pauling Institute. “We’ve discovered that vitamin E levels often look normal in the blood, because this micronutrient is attracted to high cholesterol and fat. So vitamin E can stay at higher levels in the circulatory system and give the illusion of adequate levels, even as tissues are deficient. This basically means that conventional vitamin E blood tests as they are now being done are useless.”
MEDIA BUZZ: Malaysian certified sustainable palm oil is getting its fair share of mainstream media attention for its nutrition and weight-management benefits. Malaysian palm oil was highlighted in top women’s magazine Marie Claire in a weight-loss article that reached more than a million women. Olive oil wasn’t even mentioned!
Deficiencies in vitamin E and/or selenium can result in a number of issues related to normal growth as well as to the health of cattle, particularly newly weaned calves. Selenium deficiency in newborn calves can result in white muscle disease, as well as in retained placentas in newly calved cows. As selenium is a trace mineral, daily requirements are extremely low and listed as 0.1 parts per million in the 2016 Nutrient Requirements for Beef Cattle (NRBC) publication. While this is an extremely small requirement, it is important to remember that many areas of North America have soils that are selenium deficient and if cattle are not supplemented, deficiencies can occur.
When a fetus isn’t getting enough vitamin E, the pregnant mother could miscarry because the deficiency prevents crucial body parts from developing, according to a study in Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Researchers recently discovered the process, which is just one of many negative side effects of not having enough vitamin E. Oregon State University said in a statement that “severe vitamin E deficiency causes the depletion of essential fatty acids,” forcing cells to rely on glucose to prevent damage. “Lacking glucose for energy, many physical and neurologic features, especially the brain, simply don’t get built, and death can be the result.”
Researchers for the first time have explained how deficient levels of vitamin E can cause neurologic damage to an embryo, failure to normally develop and ultimately death – a process that in women can be one cause of miscarriage. The research was published by scientists from Oregon State University in Free Radical Biology and Medicine. It answers some questions about the biologic activities of vitamin E that have been debated since 1922, when this essential micronutrient was first discovered, in part for its role in preventing embryonic mortality.
You’ll learn how to find “natural” not synthetic brands of E, and how to avoid fake forms. You may not realize this, but almost all vitamin E brands out there contain JUST ONE isomer out of 8 natural ones. True story!
The global market for natural source vitamin E is largely driven by a substantial rise in the healthcare awareness among the global population, strengthening distribution channels, and rising affordability of products. The market struggles from the declining supply of deodorized distillates, which are the key raw materials used for manufacturing natural vitamin E, which is resulting in increased costs of products.
You may be reading and hearing more about tocotrienols. This less-common form of vitamin E has earned the attention of researchers, health experts and the media because it’s a potent antioxidant. Studies have shown that premium tocotrienol supplements, derived from Malaysian certified sustainable palm oil, may help protect your brain from stroke damage, promote younger skin, support liver health and even reduce cancer risk.
