Tocotrienols

While you may have never heard of tocotrienol before, the truth is that it is an important nutrient factor for the body, and it is classified as being a part of the vitamin E group. This is important to our bodies because if you are deficient in vitamin E your body and your DNA are not as protected from the free radical damage. Over time this could cause you to have a lot of problems that are unnecessary and could be damaging to your overall health. When you think about the compound of vitamin E, you should know that it is comprised of four different types of tocotrienols as well as four types of another compound known as tocopherols. The four categories that these are divided into are known as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta.

If you are looking for a way to incorporate more tocotrienols into your diet so that you can be a healthier individual, then you will be glad to know that these compounds are naturally found in a variety of vegetable oils, wheat germ, and a few different kinds of grains and nuts. Because of this the tocotrienol portion of the vitamin E compound is considered to be a structural component of the natural compound of the vitamin family. This is important to note because it means that your body is going to be more capable of absorbing a naturally structured nutrient rather than trying to deal with one that has been manufactured in a laboratory.

Another good benefit of tocotrienol is that even in relatively small doses is has the power to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood by up to thirty five percent. This means that by taking supplements that have tocotrienols in them you can be sure that you are working to help your overall health by reducing your cholesterol, which is a leading factor for strokes and heart attacks. Not to mention the fact that this section of the vitamin E family is very safe, even if people ingest up to three times the daily recommended amount for two years. So, you can improve your health without having to worry about whether or not you are consuming yourself.

However, lowering your cholesterol is not the only benefit of tocotrienols. Because it is such an important building block of your body’s natural immune system tocotrienol can help to protect you against cell damage in your brain as well as to help reduce the risk of you contracting cancer. And, these important qualities are only found in tocotrienols, not their vitamin E counterpart, tocopherols. So, if you are looking to make sure that you are taking a supplement that will genuinely help your health in the long term, it is important that you understand the difference between the two so that you can be sure that you are taking something with tocotrienols to get the most out of your vitamin intake.

The reason that tocotrienols are designed as better antioxidants than tocopherols is that the tocotrienols have a chemical structure with a chain of polymers that is made up of unsaturated materials. This allows the tocotrienol to be able to penetrate the saturated fat cells that surround both the liver and the brain. It is because of this that scientists have discovered the ability of tocotrienols to help reduce the formation of tumors, as well as to help repair damage that has been caused to both the DNA strands and to cells in our bodies. The study that helped to prove this was done in 1993 when rats who were subjected to an agent known to cause liver cancer. Half of the rats were also fed tocotrienols, and those who had taken the supplement had significantly less liver cell damage.

Last updated on Jan 22nd, 2010 and filed under Vitamins and Minerals. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses for “Tocotrienols”

  1. CarotechInc says:

    Natural palm tocotrienol complex has been used by researchers at the Ohio State Medical University to study tocotrienol’s protective effect on brain cells after a stroke. The study spanned over a decade and recently, Prof. Chandan Sen (the lead researcher) announced that very small quantity of the tocotrienol complex is sufficient to protect the brain in artificially induced stroke in mice.

    Read the study details on NutraIngredients.com http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Vitamin-E-may-boost-brain-health-after-stroke

  2. Jeanie Borden says:

    I am a 57 year old female. I have a history of heart problems in my family. My father and two brothers died at ages 35, 45 and 54. My mother had to have bypass surgery in her 06’s. We have been told that our liver produces too much cholesterol and diet and exercise just will not do it. I do not want to take cholesterol lowering drugs. I like to do thing the natural way if I can. I have been doing research and have been lead to believe that Tocotrienols could be the answer. Can you help me with more info or personal experience. You can email me at ejbor@gotmc.net

    thank you

Comments are closed