If you’re taking vitamin E for your heart health, you might think you’ve made a smart choice. And the truth is you have-that is, assuming you’ve found the right supplement. Believe it or not, there are eight different forms of this crucial vitamin… but only two are clinically proven to boost your heart’s health dramatically. And they aren’t always so easy to find.
Most supplements and multivitamins contain a form of vitamin E called alpha-tocopherol. Alpha-tocopherol may be a powerful antioxidant-but if it’s maintaining healthy cholesterol you’re after, a class of molecules called tocotrienols are your only effective vitamin E choice.1
Research reveals that when it comes to maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol gamma- and delta-tocotrienols are your best bet.2-5 Supplementation with these two tocotrienols leads to a significant decrease in both total and LDL cholesterol levels, while improving critical HDL/LDL ratios-by as much as 22 percent, in as little as four weeks.6-8
Why the difference? Subtle variations in tocotrienol’s molecular bonds mean that, unlike alpha-tocopherol, it targets cholesterol-synthesizing enzymes in your body.9-10 What’s more, gamma- and delta-tocotrienol (the two most active forms) also block a special protein that controls LDL receptors and cholesterol creation, and can reduce your triglyceride levels as a result-whereas alpha-tocopherol and other forms of tocotrienol can’t.11
Your cholesterol isn’t the only aspect of your health that can benefit from tocotrienol supplementation: Studies show that it can reduce serum levels of advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs), which are responsible for the premature aging linked to metabolic syndrome.12 And tocotrienols can inhibit thickening of arteries and reduce the formation of unstable plaque by as much as 71 percent-reducing atherosclerotic lesion sizes up to 10-fold in animal studies.13-17
One recent study even showed that rats treated with tocotrienols exhibited significantly less cognitive impairment than controls in an experimental setting-while also showing decreased cholinesterase activity, which is known to play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.18 And if that wasn’t enough, a study, yet to be published, suggests that tocotrienols may increase hair growth in people with male pattern baldness… by as much as 42 percent.
It’s clear that a supplement enriched in tocotrienols is essential if you want the optimal benefits from this unique form of vitamin E. And while popular mixed tocopherol products aren’t likely to meet these standards, a rainforest plant called Annatto does-in fact, this unique source contains 100 percent gamma- and delta-tocotrienols, and is virtually tocopherol-free. You’ll find Annatto Tocotrienols as part of a solvent-free extract, available through Vitamin Research Products.
References:
1. Sen CK, Khanna S, Roy S. Tocotrienols: Vitamin E beyond tocopherols. Life Sci. 2006;78:2088-98.
2. Tan B. Appropriate spectrum vitamin E and new perspectives on desmethyl tocopherols and tocotrienols. JANA. 2005;8:35-42.
3. Qureshi AA, Pearce BC, Nor RM, Gapor A, Peterson DM, Elson CE. Dietary alpha-tocopherol attenuates the impact of gamma-tocotrienol on hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity in chickens. J Nutr. 1996. 126:389-94.
4. Mensink RP,. van Houwelingen AC, Kromhout D, Hornstra G. A vitamin E concentrate rich in tocotrienols had no effect on serum lipids, lipoproteins, or platelet function in men with mildly elevated serum lipid concentrations. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69:213-9.
5. Mustad VA, Smith CA, Ruey PP, Edens NK, DeMichele SJ. Supplementation with 3 compositionally different tocotrienol supplements does not improve cardiovascular disease risk factors in men and women with hypercholesterolemia. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002;76:1237-43.
6. Qureshi AA, Sami SA, Salser WA, Khan FA. Dose-dependent suppression of serum cholesterol by tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF25) of rice bran in hypercholesterolemic humans. Atherosclerosis. 2002;161:199-207.
7. Tan DT, Khor HT, Low WH, Ali A, Gapor A. Effect of a palm-oil-vitamin E concentrate on the serum and lipoprotein lipids in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991; 53:1027S-1030S.
8. Qureshi AA and Qureshi N. 1993. Tocotrienols: Novel hypocholesterolemic agents with antioxidant properties. In L. Packer and J. Fuchs (ed.), Vitamin E in Health and Disease. Marcel Dekker, New York.
9. Pearce BC, Parker RA, Deason ME, Qureshi AA, Wright JJ. Hypocholesterolemic activity of synthetic and natural tocotrienols. J Med Chem. 1992;35:3595-606.
10. Parker RA, Pearce BC, Clark RW, Gordon DA, Wright JJ. Tocotrienols regulate cholesterol production in mammalian cells by post-transcriptional suppression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase. J Biol Chem. 1993;268:11230-8.
11. Song BL, DeBose-Boyd RA. Insig-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase stimulated by delta- and gamma-tocotrienols. J Biol Chem. 2006;281:25054-61.
12. Wan Nazaimoon WM, Khalid BA. Tocotrienols-rich diet decreases advanced glycosylation end-products in non-diabetic rats and improves glycemic control in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Malays J Pathol. 2002;24:77-82.
13. Theriault A, Chao JT, Gapor A. Tocotrienol is the most effective vitamin E for reducing endothelial expression of adhesion molecules and adhesion to monocytes. Atherosclerosis. 2002;160:21-30.
14. Chao JT, Gapor A, Theriault A. Inhibitory effect of delta-tocotrienol, a HMG CoA reductase inhibitor, on monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2002; 48:332-7.
15. Naito Y, Shimozawa M, Kuroda M, Nakabe N, Manabe H, Katada K, Kokura S, Ichikawa H, Yoshida N, Noguchi N, Yoshikawa, T. Tocotrienols reduce 25-hydroxycholesterol-induced monocyte-endothelial cell interaction by inhibiting the surface expression of adhesion molecules. Atherosclerosis. 2005; 180:19-25.
16. Holub B. 1989. Inhibition of Platelet Aggregation by Tocotrienols. University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Internal Publication.
17. Qureshi AA, Salser WA, Parmar R, Emeson EE. Novel tocotrienols of rice bran inhibit atherosclerotic lesions in C57BL/6 ApoE-deficient mice. J Nutr. 2001;131:2606-18.
18. Tiwari V, Kuhad A, Bishnoi M, Chopra K. Chronic treatment with tocotrienol, an isoform of vitamin E, prevents intracerebroventricular streptozotocin-induced cognitive impairment and oxidative-nitrosative stress in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2009 Aug;93(2):183-9.
