Description
Mixed Tocopherol Vitamin E
Supercharged with Tocotrienols
In the early isolation of vitamin E from plant oils, the proposed term, tocopherols, was used to name the initial four compounds that shared a similar structure. These compounds were designated as alpha, beta, delta and gamma tocopherols. Their structures have two primary parts, a complex ring and a long saturated side chain. Tocopherols play an important role as the major fat soluble antioxidants that protect our bodies against free-radical damage.
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.
Vitamin E plays an essential role in cellular respiration of all muscles, especially cardiac and skeletal. Vitamin E makes it possible for these muscles and their nerves to function with less oxygen, thereby increasing their endurance and stamina. It also causes dilation of the blood vessels, permitting a fuller flow of blood to the heart. Vitamin E also aids in bringing nourishment to the cells, strengthening the capillary walls, and protecting the red blood cells from destruction by poisons such as, hydrogen peroxide, in the blood.
Tocotrienols are members of the vitamin E family. Unlike some vitamins which consist of a single compound, vitamin E consists of eight different compounds: four tocopherols and four tocotrienols (designated as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). Our food contains all eight compounds. Most vitamin E supplements, however, contain only alpha-tocopherol because it was thought that only this one was important. Emerging research proved this understanding wrong. To get the full spectrum of the many benefits of vitamin E, we must use products that contain the complete family of tocopherols plus tocotrienols.
A number of studies produced evidence of the biochemical basis of the important and unique effects of tocotrienols. Tocotrienols and, in particular, gamma-tocotrienol appear to act on a specific enzyme called 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA) involved in cholesterol production in the liver. Tocotrienols suppress the production of this enzyme, which may result in less cholesterol being manufactured by liver cells.
Laboratory studies indicate that tocotrienols may affect the growth and/or proliferation of some types of human cancer cells. A research group at the University of Texas at Austin, headed by Dr. Kimberly Kline, confirmed earlier results that tocotrienols slow down the growth of human breast cancer cells. This study showed that the naturally occurring tocotrienols and delta-tocopherol induced apoptosis (death) of these cancer cells. The gamma and delta-tocotrienols were the most effective. Alpha, beta, and gamma tocopherols were ineffective in this system. Another group reported that gamma-tocotrienol suppressed the growth of rat melanoma cells and, with greater potency, the growth of human breast adenocarcinoma and human leukemic cells. Another study indicated that tocotrienols reduced liver cancers in rats dosed with a potent liver carcinogen.
60 Softgel Capsules
