Vitamin E is an essential nutrient for our bodies’ proper function. We cannot produce Vitamin E on our own, and so we rely on food sources and dietary supplements to absorb it. Over the years, Vitamin E has grown in popularity for its antioxidant properties—it has even become one of the central or staple ingredients in skincare products today.
However, Vitamin E can offer much more than skin benefits.
In the Vitamin E family, there are eight different types of fat-soluble tocopherols and tocotrienols. Tocopherols are more commonly found in nature and used compared to the latter. Currently, there is an emerging body of research suggesting that tocotrienol could be the next generation of Vitamin E: It may better protect individuals from inflammation, aging, brain diseases, heart problems, and cancer, as well as possesses a more potent antioxidant activity compared to tocopherol.
Curious to find out more? Read on to discover how tocotrienol may help you.
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Combats aging
Oxidative stress occurs when there are more free radicals in your body than antioxidants. This can overwhelm your immune system’s processes—such as the ability to fight pathogens or recover from illness—and, in turn, not only speed up aging at the cellular level.
According to a randomized controlled trial published in the Nutrition Journal, following 160 milligrams of tocotrienol supplementation for six months, middle-aged and older adults exhibited reduced damage to their DNA. This reveals tocotrienol’s potential to slow the progression of aging in individuals when taken long-term.
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Boosts antioxidant protection against inflammation
Acute inflammation is your immune system’s natural response to different agents and substances such as viruses, bacteria, and allergens that can inflict damage to your cells. However, if this persists or is left unresolved, it can progress into chronic inflammation and give rise to a wide variety of health issues such as cardiovascular diseases and metabolic problems (e.g. diabetes).
Due to tocotrienol’s antioxidant activity, the vitamin may help combat these unwanted health effects. While further clinical research is still warranted to verify tocotrienol’s physiological benefits, initial findings from human studies have revealed promise in tocotrienol’s anti-inflammatory potential.
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Promotes heart health
Tocotrienol may help lower cholesterol levels, specifically the low-density lipoproteins that can contribute to or aggravate heart attacks or heart failure in patients.
Based on existing medical evidence, tocotrienol’s molecular mechanism was found to include the potential to slow down the progression of atherosclerosis—a condition wherein fats and cholesterols clog up your arteries—better than tocopherol, the more widely used and common form of Vitamin E.
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Offers neuroprotection
Did you know that stroke is one of the leading causes of death for Filipinos?
Research suggests that tocotrienol may have neuroprotective benefits. Tocotrienol is said to possess the potential to help protect individuals from ischemic stroke, a condition that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a clot, thereby cutting off blood supply or flow to the brain.
Another study, conducted by Ohio State Medical Center researchers, found that following tocotrienol supplementation, neurons were able to maintain healthy growth and motility despite exposure to a certain neurotoxic agent.
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Helps inhibit hair loss
Studies report that oxidative stress is linked to alopecia (or hair loss) and that individuals suffering from the scalp condition exhibit low antioxidant levels and high oxidative stress biomarkers.
With Vitamin E known for its antioxidant properties, a clinical trial was conducted to investigate tocotrienol supplementation’s effect on alopecia patients’ hair growth versus placebo. After eight months, the researchers found that the tocotrienol group recorded a 35% increase in the number of hairs compared to the placebo group’s 0.1% decrease.
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