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Gamma-Tocotrienol Slows Diet-Induced Obesity and Improves Insulin Resistance in Animal Model

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Researchers from the University of Florida report that gamma-tocotrienol from red palm oil accumulates in adipose tissues, slowing down high-fat diet-induced obesity and improving insulin sensitivity in mice by inhibiting adipose inflammation.

In the new study, Dr. SK Chung and her team investigated the effects of gamma-tocotrienol on early onset obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance in mice. The mice were randomly assigned to three different diet groups – low fat (LF), high fat (HF) with 60% calories from fat, or HF mixed with 0.05% gamma-tocotrienol, one of eight different compounds that make up natural vitamin E. Measurements of gamma-tocotrienol concentrations in blood and adipose tissue; effects of gamma-tocotrienol on body weight gain, adipose volume, fasting blood glucose, insulin level and various inflammatory biomarkers were recorded.

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Let Vitamin E Help Protect Your Brain

Vitamin E can help protect your brain.

Want to lower your risk of having another stroke? Protect your brain with Vitamin E.

Studies reveal that Vitamin E tocotrienol, a little known type of Vitamin E found naturally in palm oil, helps to support white brain matter and lower stroke risk.

Why White Matter Matters

Fifty percent of your brain is white matter and the health of your brain’s white matter affects how well your brain functions and learns.  Your brain’s white matter is also the area of the brain most affected by a stroke.

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Concerned about stroke? A two-year study finds that vitamin E from Malaysian palm oil helps to protect brain’s white matter

hile you may know about your brain’s gray matter, did you also know that about 50 percent of your brain is made of white matter? The health of your brain’s white matter affects how well it learns and functions. This is also the area of the brain most often affected by stroke. Now results of a two-year human clinical study published in the American Heart Association journal, Stroke, show that vitamin E tocotrienols derived from Malaysian palm oil supports white matter health by weakening the progression of white matter lesions.

This human study is exciting because it is the first that provides solid evidence of tocotrienols’ neuroprotective benefits in humans. It complements previous research in cell cultures and animal models funded by the National Institutes of Health that has shown that alpha tocotrienols may lessen stroke damage, and may help to accelerate recovery of functional loss.

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Crazy for Cranberries

Cranberries

With the holiday season upon us I seem to have cranberries on the brain, so it should come as no surprise that one of my all-time favorite ingredients happens to be Cranberry Seed Oil. Why am I so enamored with the oil from this super fruit? When the fruit is cold pressed the resulting oil is rich in tocopherols, tocotrienols (Vitamin E) and phytosterols (plant sterols). Vitamin E is really a family of eight different isomers consisting of 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols. The Vitamin E constituents found in Cranberry Seed Oils contain significant levels of alpha and gamma tocopherols and alpha and gamma tocotrienols. All of these isomers of Vitamin E provide excellent antioxidant protection and help to reinforce the barrier lipid properties of the skin.

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Annatto Tocotrienol Helps Prevent Osteoporosis in Men

A preclinical trial using annatto tocotrienol in osteoporotic rats demonstrated that vitamin E tocotrienols are as effective as standard anti-osteoporosis therapy in men.

 Able to completely prevent erosion of the bone surface and decreased bone formation associated with testosterone deficiency, annatto tocotrienol was as effective as testosterone enanthate, one of the standard therapies used to treat osteoporosis in men.

“This study serves as a basis for the application of annatto tocotrienol in hypogonadal men as an antiosteoporotic agent,” concluded the researchers, led by pharmacologist Ima-Nirwana Soelaiman of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

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The Little-Known Benefits Of Tocotrienols

By Thomas Rosenthal

The Little-Known Benefits Of Tocotrienols

If your vitamin E supplement contains only tocopherol forms, you may not be getting all of the benefits this nutrient has to offer. While tocopherols are very important, they lack many of the synergistic benefits offered by their cousins, the tocotrienols.

Few people realize that vitamin E is composed of eight different compounds. Half of these are called tocopherols, which is the most common form of vitamin E. The other half are known as tocotrienols.

Scientists are discovering that tocotrienols provide valuable therapeutic and preventive options for the diseases of aging that tocopherols alone may not provide.

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Tocotrienols in action by The Star

Tocotrienols are fast overtaking their better-known vitamin E sibling, tocopherols, when it comes to customer satisfaction.

Researchers have long concentrated on the tocopherol members of the vitamin E family, which were discovered first. It was only in the last couple of decades that researchers have started to focus on tocotrienols.

GirlPalm_High Res

Studies have indicated that tocotrienols are stronger antioxidants than tocopherols. In the market, tocotrienols are viewed as better, stronger form of vitamin E with positive customer feedbacks as they offer beneficial effects to the skin. Besides, the pharmacists recommend tocotrienols for heart protection, cholesterol-lowering and stroke-prevention. The recommended dose vary based on individual responses.

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Tocotrienols for normalisation of hepatic echogenic response in nonalcoholic fatty liver: a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Magosso E, Ansari MA, Gopalan Y, Shuaib IL, Wong JW, Khan NA, Abu Bakar MR, Ng BH, Yuen KH.

Nutr J . 2013 Dec 27;12(1):166. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-12-166.

Abstract

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the commonest liver disorders. Obesity, insulin resistance, lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress have been identified amongst the possible hits leading to the onset and progression of this disease. Nutritional evaluation of NAFLD patients showed a lower-than-recommended intake of vitamin E. Vitamin E is a family of 8 isoforms, 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols. Alpha-tocopherol has been widely investigated in liver diseases, whereas no previous clinical trial has investigated tocotrienols for NAFLD. Aim of the study was to determine the effects of mixed tocotrienols, in normalising the hepatic echogenic response in hypercholesterolaemic patients with ultrasound-proven NAFLD.

Methods: Eighty-seven untreated hypercholesterolaemic adults with ultrasound-proven NAFLD were enrolled and randomised into control group (n = 44) and tocotrienols group (n = 43). The treatment, either mixed tocotrienols 200 mg twice daily or placebo, had a 1-year duration.Normalisation of hepatic echogenic response, being the trial primary aim, was used in sample size calculations. The data were assessed according to intention to treat principle as primary outcome. Per protocol analysis was also carried out as secondary outcome measurement.

Results: Thirty and 34 participants concluded the study in the tocotrienols and placebo group respectively. Alpha-tocopherol levels were within the normal range for all subjects. As primary outcome, the normalisation of hepatic echogenic response was significantly higher for the tocotrienols treated group compared to the placebo group in the intention to treat analysis (P = 0.039; 95% CI = 0.896-6.488). As secondary objective, the per protocol assessment also showed significant rate of remission (P = 0.014; 95% CI = 1.117-9.456). Worsening of NAFLD grade was recorded in two patients in the placebo group, but none in the group treated with tocotrienols. No adverse events were reported for both groups.

Conclusion: This is the first clinical trial that showed the hepatoprotective effects of mixed palm tocotrienols in hypercholesterolemic adults with NAFLD.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00753532.

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Vitamin E ‘beneficial’ in dementia

A daily dose of vitamin E could help people with dementiabrain

A study in the journal JAMA found people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease on high doses of vitamin E had a slower rate of decline than those given a dummy pill.

They were able to carry out everyday tasks for longer and needed less help from carers, say US researchers.

The Alzheimer’s Society said the dosage was very high and might not be safe.

In the study, 613 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease received either a daily dose of vitamin E, a dementia drug treatment known as memantine, a combination of vitamin E and memantine, or placebo.

Changes in their ability to carry out everyday tasks – such as washing or dressing – were measured over an average of two years.

The study found participants receiving vitamin E had slower functional decline than those receiving placebo, with the annual rate of decline reduced by 19%.

Dysken MW, Sano M, Asthana S, et al. Effect of Vitamin E and Memantine on Functional Decline in Alzheimer Disease: The TEAM-AD VA Cooperative Randomized Trial. JAMA.2014;311(1):33-44. 

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Tocotrienol analogue as potential anti-cancer agent

Cancer(3)Vitamins are prominent among natural or endogenous compounds that are considered to be beneficial for both prevention and therapy of various human ailments. The vitamin E group of compounds composed of tocopherol and tocotrienol isoforms, has been subsequently proven to have health benefits including antioxidant and related protective properties. The anticancer effect of T3 remains not fully understood but generally is mediated independently of its antioxidant activity. In this study, new redox-inactive analogue of T3, 6-O-carboxypropyl-alpha-tocotrienol (T3E) showed considerable promise for stronger anticancer potency than its mother compound.

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