Vitamin E Deficiency Is Rampant — Why You Don’t Want to Be

Vitamin E is an important fat-soluble vitamin and antioxidant that helps combat damaging free radicals. It also plays a role in the making of red blood cells and helps your body use vitamin K, the latter of which is important for heart health.

Unfortunately, estimates suggest about 6 billion people worldwide are deficient in this basic micronutrient.

According to a recent review presented at the World Congress of Public Health Nutrition, more than 90 percent of Americans fail to reach the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin E.

Natural Immunity Boost

Vitamin E has long been known to be an antioxidant, capable of destroying potentially harmful free radicals in our body. There are 2 main types of vitamin E: tocopherols and tocotrienols. To date, tocopherols have been extensively researched, and nearly all the vitamin E supplements available today are derived from tocopherols. Tocotrienols, compared to tocopherols, are only starting to receive more attention from researchers, but even at this early stage, research is uncovering a considerable amount of potential benefits.

HealthToday sits down with Professor Ammu Radhakrishnan, who shares with us a study, in which she was involved, that demonstrates the potential benefits of tocotrienols to our body’s defense against infections.

Good for the Brain

Our brain is a complex organ, and we still have much to learn about how it works. What we do know, however, is that our brain undergoes changes as we age, changes that can affect its ability to function normally.

While some of these changes are due to the natural consequences of ageing, we may develop conditions that can also affect our brain. According to Prof Yuen Kah Hay, our brain consumes more energy than any other organ in the body, roughly 20% of our total energy requirements. Our brain is nourished by a massive network of blood vessels. “Therefore, any damage to the blood vessels can lead to degeneration of brain tissues, possibly leading to neurodegenerative disorders such as cognitive dysfunction, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” he says. He adds that hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and diabetes are just some of the conditions that can damage the fine blood vessels in our brain.

Controlling the risk factors of such conditions would be very helpful to maintain our brain health, and thus, Prof Yuen recommends living a healthy lifestyle comprising a balanced diet and regular physical activity. If we need a little extra help, neuroprotective supplements such as tocotrienols can be helpful.

The Amazing Tocotrienol

Just how much do you know about the beneficial compound called tocotrienol? To find out, take this short quiz by answering either TRUE or FALSE.

Q: Tocotrienols are a form of Vitamin E.

Q: Tocotrienols have unique benefits not seen in tocopherols.

Q: Tocotrienols are widely available from natural sources.

Exciting growth in palm phytonutrient segment

StarBiz By Hanim Adnan

Local palm oil producers should focus on developing palm phytonutrient-based products, which have lately attracted good demand from the global neutraceuticals markets. The proven scientific health benefits of palm phytonutrients such as tocotrienols and carotenoids also bodes well with the growing health awareness and food safety concerns, which have led more consumers and manufacturers worldwide to source for natural, preservative-free and non-GMO ingredients in their products.

Research: Healthy Effects of Black Pepper Fruits Extract, Tocotrienols, Terminalia Bellerica

Recent research supports the effects of natural ingredients, including black pepper fruits extract to increase mitochondrial function and Terminalia bellerica to reduce serum uric acid levels, while researchers further explore the heart and brain health effects of tocotrienols.

A recent human clinical study by the University of Georgia Department of Kinesiology found resveratrol fortified with black pepper fruits extract (as BioPerine® by Sabinsa) increased mitochondrial function. The study was conducted on participants who ingested a combo of resveratrol and BioPerine for four weeks with moderate exercise. Near infrared spectroscopy was used to study the mitochondrial capacity of wrist flexor muscle of one arm while the other arm served as the control. Results showed skeletal muscle mitochondrial performance increased with consumption of resveratrol (500 mg) and BioPerine (10 mg). The double-blind study was published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.

A pill for Parkinson’s?

The National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) is testing the substance, which is currently already available in a pill form. NNI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Malaysian pharmaceutical company Hovid Berhad to test whether palm tocotrienol – extracted from crude palm oil – works in experimental models of Parkinson’s disease. Clinical studies will be carried out subsequently.

“Our short- to mid-term plan is to come up with a drug to delay the onset of Parkinson’s for those at risk of the disease,” said Professor Tan Eng King, NNI’s Director of Research.

Study: Red Palm Oil Supplementation in Chronic Liver Disease Patients

A randomized, controlled study revealed that red palm oil (RPO, enriched with high levels of tocotrienols, tocopherols and carotenoids) supplementation decreased lipid peroxidation and endotoxemia (the presence of heat stable toxin derived from certain gram negative bacteria in the blood), production of inflammatory cytokines, and monocyte tissue factor (TF) in chronic liver disease patients.

The study, “Beneficial effect of refined red palm oil on lipid peroxidation and monocyte tissue factor in HCV-related liver disease: a randomized controlled study,” was published in Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International. Sixty patients with mean age of 62 years old with Child A/B genotype 1 HCV-related cirrhosis with no history of alcoholic beverages consumption were recruited. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either 300 mg vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol acetate) or 15 g RPO supplementation for 8 weeks. Blood parameters such as circulating endotoxin, plasma endotoxin-inhibiting capacity, macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), urinary isoprostane-F2α-III, and monocyte TF activity, erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) were examined after the 2nd, 4th and 8th weeks. Liver ultrasound imaging was carried out to examine liver steatosis.

Vitamin E Tocotrienols

By Dr Liji Thomas, MD

Natural vitamin E contains 8 isoforms, of which four are alpha, beta, gamma and delta-tocotrienols. They differ because of the presence or absence of a methyl (-CH3) group at the 2, 4’ and 8’ positions on the chromanol ring. Natural tocotrienols have this group in the R configuration at the 2 position, which is responsible for its biological activity.

Sources of tocotrienols

Tocotrienols are far less common in plants than tocopherols. However, vitamin E in monocot seeds and a few dicot seeds is mostly in the form of tocotrienols. The richest source of alpha-tocotrienol is the oil of the oil palm tree Elaeis guineensis, containing up to 800 mg/kg of this vitamin in the alpha and gamma isoforms. 70% of vitamin E in palm oil is in the form of tocotrienols, quite unlike other plant oils which contain exclusively tocopherols.

Tocotrienol, the New Effective Cancer Killer

Do you know that a new type of vitamin E called TOCOTRIENOL can actually help kill cancer cells? Tocotrienol is a new generation of Vitamin E and the richest source of this new cancer killer is the annatto seed. You read it right: the Annatto seed.