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The only question a person might have after a thorough study of tocotrienol science would be, “Is there any health issue that tocotrienol E does not help?” The tocotrienol forms of vitamin E continue to be one of the most intensely researched nutrients in the world – with good reason. Seldom has there ever been any nutrient with such an impressive array of health benefits.
Hardly a week passes without a new tocotrienol study of profound implications. For example, a July 2012 study shows that tocotrienol E can improve the tolerance to stress in immune cells from young or old individuals, indicating a significant anti-aging and health protecting impact on the immune system. Throughout life our immune cells are exposed to a variety of stressors that damage them and reduce their function. In younger people this impairs an efficient immune response leading to increased risk for infection and cancer. During aging this issue is magnified due to the general increase in free radical damage associated with aging, combined with reduced repair capacity. The researchers used advanced proteomics to show that tocotrienol E turns on genes that directly offset the free radical damage, helping the cells maintain normal function. Tocotrienol E could do this in younger people’s cells as well as the immune cells of older people. This is a profound anti-aging benefit – any drug that could do this in a safe way would be an immediate blockbuster.
A June 2012 study shows that tocotrienol E helps to enhance the formation of red and white blood cells in your bones – a key aspect of the “fountain of youth” if you are to keep making the new kinds of cells your body needs in order to work properly. The researchers also exposed animals taking tocotrienol E to intense radiation designed to damage their bone marrow (the birthplace of red and white blood cells), which typically happens as an adverse side effect during cancer treatment. The tocotrienol E protected the bone marrow from damage while actually turning on the house cleaning system (autophagy) to help clean up the cellular damage caused by the radiation so that the cells could survive in a healthy manner. The implications of this study for general health and for cancer treatment are profound. A number of earlier studies have shown that tocotrienols can protect against high levels of radiation that otherwise cause damage.
Other recent research shows that tocotrienol E stops the death of brain cells exposed to alcohol by modulating the key inflammatory gene signal within brain cells (NF-kappaB), stops excessive activity of osteoclasts that cause osteoporosis, and directly knocks out prostate cancer cells. The new studies continue to prove earlier research on tocotrienols involving alcohol toxicity, bone health, and prostate cancer – not to mention pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer.
It is utterly breathtaking to observe tocotrienol E’s scope of influence to protect human health and help cells live longer, while helping to knock out cancerous cells.
What Are Tocotrienols?
The vitamin E family consists of four tocotrienols and four tocopherols. D alpha tocopherol, the commonly understood form of vitamin E, has been extensively researched, and has its own value to human health. The difference between tocotrienols and tocopherols is the “tail” on the vitamin E molecule. Tocopherols have a long saturated tail. Tocotrienols have a short unsaturated tail. The unique structure of tocotrienols enables them to do many things that tocopherols cannot do. This includes easier access to cells, better antioxidant function in cells, a better ability to move around in cells, and the activation of a wide variety of gene signals including cholesterol regulation. For example, gamma tocotrienol can go inside any cell in the human body, attach to the inside of the cell membrane, and directly regulate gene function that determines life or death. If a cell needs to be rejuvenated or preserved then tocotrienols help facilitate that process. If a cell needs to be killed because it is cancerous or too worn out to function properly, then tocotrienols influence that process. The tocopherol forms of vitamin E cannot do this.
Tocotrienols play a unique role in cholesterol metabolism, helping to naturally lower cholesterol. At the same time, they help to starve cancer of cholesterol so that it cannot replicate. The discovery of this stunning aspect of tocotrienol function evolved over several decades of research, which I explain in my earlier article, Tocotrienols: Twenty Years of Dazzling Cardiovascular and Cancer Research.
The Broad Scope of Tocotrienol Benefits
While the claim to fame for tocotrienols is their benefit to healthy cholesterol metabolism, their benefits go far beyond this singular focus. In addition to the studies mentioned at the beginning of this article, I would like to point out some of the other tocotrienol highlights.
Since tocotrienols are a fat-soluble nutrient it is not surprising to find that they enter your white adipose tissue, wherein they help put a lid on the expansion of your white adipose tissue growth. This means they help curb the desire to make bigger fat cells that store more fat. They also help boost production of adiponectin within your fat, helping to regulate blood sugar while at the same time helping to prevent a buildup of fat in the liver. In fact, researchers are now advocating tocotrienols as a tool to help combat virtually every aspect of the metabolic syndrome (obesity, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure). Tocotrienols have even been shown to protect the kidneys from the damage caused by the high blood sugar of diabetes – yet another problem of epidemic proportions in America today. Even in people with advanced liver disease, a common problem in advanced metabolic disease, tocotrienols were able to stop disease progression and preserve remaining liver function – an utterly astounding finding. While no nutrient is a magic bullet for weight loss, tocotrienols can help guide overweight people back in the right direction while offering significant protection to their body while they get back on track.
Another fatty tissue is breast tissue, where tocotrienols offer extraordinary protection against breast cancer. And for women going through breast cancer treatment, research now indicates that the addition of gamma tocotrienol is likely to make cancer less resistant to chemo drugs, meaning drug treatment will have a better outcome at potentially lower doses.
Tocotrienols actually help restore immune system stability. For example, they help resolve the hyper immune system of asthma. On the other hand, it helps old immune cells function in a more youthful and appropriate manner. Tocotrienols have even been shown to help the immune system respond more appropriately to vaccines (not that I am a vaccine fan).
In a 2008 article, Tocotrienols – A Multi-Dimensional Nutrient Powerhouse, I began explaining an emerging body of evidence showing that tocotrienols were absorbed into your brain, wherein they protected nerves from excitotoxic stress, which is the primary cause of cognitive decline and poor brain function. Research continues showing that this type of nerve protection significantly reduces stroke damage. In fact, the precise mechanism explaining how tocotrienols guard against neurodegeneration and stoke has been identified. Also of interest is that tocotrienols have been shown to protect the brain against mercury toxicity. Finally, researchers have demonstrated in humans that those who have higher levels of tocotrienols in their brains have a 55 percent risk reduction for developing Alzheimer’s.
And if all that is not enough, tocotrienols have been shown to extend the length of telomeres, the key to a cell being able to split and divide and thereby maintain true anti-aging within your body. In fact, tocotrienols actually rejuvenated the function of the telomerase enzyme that enables this process. This is a general health principle predicting longevity.
A person clicking on the above links to the studies I have referred to in this article cannot help but be impressed by the broad array of science that supports the use of tocotrienols to bolster human health. There is little wonder why I recommend this form of vitamin E to one and all as a daily supplement for good health. There is also little wonder why natural, safe, and effective options for health are garnering such widespread public interest and support. The dawn of a new health era is upon us.
More...
Hardly a week passes without a new tocotrienol study of profound implications. For example, a July 2012 study shows that tocotrienol E can improve the tolerance to stress in immune cells from young or old individuals, indicating a significant anti-aging and health protecting impact on the immune system. Throughout life our immune cells are exposed to a variety of stressors that damage them and reduce their function. In younger people this impairs an efficient immune response leading to increased risk for infection and cancer. During aging this issue is magnified due to the general increase in free radical damage associated with aging, combined with reduced repair capacity. The researchers used advanced proteomics to show that tocotrienol E turns on genes that directly offset the free radical damage, helping the cells maintain normal function. Tocotrienol E could do this in younger people’s cells as well as the immune cells of older people. This is a profound anti-aging benefit – any drug that could do this in a safe way would be an immediate blockbuster.
A June 2012 study shows that tocotrienol E helps to enhance the formation of red and white blood cells in your bones – a key aspect of the “fountain of youth” if you are to keep making the new kinds of cells your body needs in order to work properly. The researchers also exposed animals taking tocotrienol E to intense radiation designed to damage their bone marrow (the birthplace of red and white blood cells), which typically happens as an adverse side effect during cancer treatment. The tocotrienol E protected the bone marrow from damage while actually turning on the house cleaning system (autophagy) to help clean up the cellular damage caused by the radiation so that the cells could survive in a healthy manner. The implications of this study for general health and for cancer treatment are profound. A number of earlier studies have shown that tocotrienols can protect against high levels of radiation that otherwise cause damage.
Other recent research shows that tocotrienol E stops the death of brain cells exposed to alcohol by modulating the key inflammatory gene signal within brain cells (NF-kappaB), stops excessive activity of osteoclasts that cause osteoporosis, and directly knocks out prostate cancer cells. The new studies continue to prove earlier research on tocotrienols involving alcohol toxicity, bone health, and prostate cancer – not to mention pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer.
It is utterly breathtaking to observe tocotrienol E’s scope of influence to protect human health and help cells live longer, while helping to knock out cancerous cells.
What Are Tocotrienols?
The vitamin E family consists of four tocotrienols and four tocopherols. D alpha tocopherol, the commonly understood form of vitamin E, has been extensively researched, and has its own value to human health. The difference between tocotrienols and tocopherols is the “tail” on the vitamin E molecule. Tocopherols have a long saturated tail. Tocotrienols have a short unsaturated tail. The unique structure of tocotrienols enables them to do many things that tocopherols cannot do. This includes easier access to cells, better antioxidant function in cells, a better ability to move around in cells, and the activation of a wide variety of gene signals including cholesterol regulation. For example, gamma tocotrienol can go inside any cell in the human body, attach to the inside of the cell membrane, and directly regulate gene function that determines life or death. If a cell needs to be rejuvenated or preserved then tocotrienols help facilitate that process. If a cell needs to be killed because it is cancerous or too worn out to function properly, then tocotrienols influence that process. The tocopherol forms of vitamin E cannot do this.
Tocotrienols play a unique role in cholesterol metabolism, helping to naturally lower cholesterol. At the same time, they help to starve cancer of cholesterol so that it cannot replicate. The discovery of this stunning aspect of tocotrienol function evolved over several decades of research, which I explain in my earlier article, Tocotrienols: Twenty Years of Dazzling Cardiovascular and Cancer Research.
The Broad Scope of Tocotrienol Benefits
While the claim to fame for tocotrienols is their benefit to healthy cholesterol metabolism, their benefits go far beyond this singular focus. In addition to the studies mentioned at the beginning of this article, I would like to point out some of the other tocotrienol highlights.
Since tocotrienols are a fat-soluble nutrient it is not surprising to find that they enter your white adipose tissue, wherein they help put a lid on the expansion of your white adipose tissue growth. This means they help curb the desire to make bigger fat cells that store more fat. They also help boost production of adiponectin within your fat, helping to regulate blood sugar while at the same time helping to prevent a buildup of fat in the liver. In fact, researchers are now advocating tocotrienols as a tool to help combat virtually every aspect of the metabolic syndrome (obesity, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure). Tocotrienols have even been shown to protect the kidneys from the damage caused by the high blood sugar of diabetes – yet another problem of epidemic proportions in America today. Even in people with advanced liver disease, a common problem in advanced metabolic disease, tocotrienols were able to stop disease progression and preserve remaining liver function – an utterly astounding finding. While no nutrient is a magic bullet for weight loss, tocotrienols can help guide overweight people back in the right direction while offering significant protection to their body while they get back on track.
Another fatty tissue is breast tissue, where tocotrienols offer extraordinary protection against breast cancer. And for women going through breast cancer treatment, research now indicates that the addition of gamma tocotrienol is likely to make cancer less resistant to chemo drugs, meaning drug treatment will have a better outcome at potentially lower doses.
Tocotrienols actually help restore immune system stability. For example, they help resolve the hyper immune system of asthma. On the other hand, it helps old immune cells function in a more youthful and appropriate manner. Tocotrienols have even been shown to help the immune system respond more appropriately to vaccines (not that I am a vaccine fan).
In a 2008 article, Tocotrienols – A Multi-Dimensional Nutrient Powerhouse, I began explaining an emerging body of evidence showing that tocotrienols were absorbed into your brain, wherein they protected nerves from excitotoxic stress, which is the primary cause of cognitive decline and poor brain function. Research continues showing that this type of nerve protection significantly reduces stroke damage. In fact, the precise mechanism explaining how tocotrienols guard against neurodegeneration and stoke has been identified. Also of interest is that tocotrienols have been shown to protect the brain against mercury toxicity. Finally, researchers have demonstrated in humans that those who have higher levels of tocotrienols in their brains have a 55 percent risk reduction for developing Alzheimer’s.
And if all that is not enough, tocotrienols have been shown to extend the length of telomeres, the key to a cell being able to split and divide and thereby maintain true anti-aging within your body. In fact, tocotrienols actually rejuvenated the function of the telomerase enzyme that enables this process. This is a general health principle predicting longevity.
A person clicking on the above links to the studies I have referred to in this article cannot help but be impressed by the broad array of science that supports the use of tocotrienols to bolster human health. There is little wonder why I recommend this form of vitamin E to one and all as a daily supplement for good health. There is also little wonder why natural, safe, and effective options for health are garnering such widespread public interest and support. The dawn of a new health era is upon us.
More...