Coconut and palm oil provide several tocopherols and tocotrienols.

After church last weekend, I talked with several friends about life, family, the pandemic, and health in general. Unfortunately, one of my conversations centered on death, especially that of heart attack and stroke. However, the friend I was chatting with had no fear of death but did not want to die from a stroke.

We did not get into details about why, but I surmised later that if you do not die immediately from a stroke, someone must take care of you. I am confident he does not want to be a burden on others. I believe all of us feel that way.

Stroke and dementia victims take tolls on both the victim and those taking care of them. Is there a way to reduce the risk of a stroke? There are many, but it may be too late for some to make effective changes once you reach retirement age.

Vitamin E

https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-E. Vitamin E is made up of eight different compounds. I read several articles before deciding to use this link. The other articles were higher in the food chain of Google’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) but did not mention the eight different components of vitamin E.

The articles read as if one vitamin existed, and it could be found in various sources. Supplemental vitamin E is usually one component and nearly worthless as a synthetic version of the natural one, D-α-tocopherol acetate. DL-α-tocopherol acetate is the synthetic version. Check the label to be sure. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4852230/.

Vitamin E has four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Tocopherols have documented evidence of promoting healthy skin (preventing wrinkles in one of many), stimulating wound healing, reducing inflammation, slowing the aging process (age-related macular degeneration as one), as a treatment for heart disease, improving cognitive decline, and as a treatment for some types of cancers.

Ensure that the supplemental vitamin E you buy has all eight tocopherols and tocotrienols. All eight are not found in a single food. The four tocopherols are alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. The four tocotrienols are alpha, beta, gamma, and delta.

Tocotrienols

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2956867/. This link is one of the more informative sources on tocotrienols and health. A 2013 study that caught my attention while researching this article was pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive and deadly human cancers. https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article/34/4/858/2463259 and https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2014/8/the-little-known-benefits-of-tocotrienols. A good friend of mine just had pancreatic cancer surgery, and this topic is of particular interest to me.

Laboratory animals with pancreatic cancer were treated with tocotrienols. One group (control) was treated with placebos. A second group was treated with the standard chemotherapy drug for pancreatic cancer, gemcitabine. A third group was treated with tocotrienols, and the last group was treated with both gemcitabine and tocotrienols.

The results were that ten percent of the animals in the control group (no tocotrienols), thirty percent of the gemcitabine group, seventy percent of the tocotrienol group, and 90% of the combined gemcitabine and tocopherol group survived.

Tocotrienols work through many pathways and mechanisms – apoptosis (programmed cell death), slowing tumor growth, inhibiting blood flow, inhibiting metastasis, decreasing cancer gene expression, and increasing genes that suppress cancer growth.

Brain Health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6464523/ and https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/health/alternatives/2013/06/02/tackling-stroke-with-palm-vitamin-e-tocotrienols. There are two types of strokes – ischemic (caused by blood clots) and hemorrhagic (caused by bleeding inside the brain). Almost ninety percent of strokes are ischemic. Those surviving a stroke (around 70%) will have severe disability immediately and may continue to experience severe disability a year later.

A mini-stroke (TIA – transient ischemic attack) is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. Several studies showed that vitamin E (tocotrienols) offered significant protection from post-stroke damage and disability. Tocotrienols (especially alpha-tocotrienol) have arteriogenic (increase artery diameter) properties.

Through arteriogenesis, blood flow is increased and minimizes the damage caused by blood flow blockage. In addition, scientists noted that collateral arteries were formed around the stroke-damaged areas. Further studies revealed that tocotrienols slowed the conversion of arachidonic acid into pro-inflammatory molecules—this reduced inflammation resulting from an ischemic attack.

Tocotrienols also reduced oxidant damage in the brain tissues. In addition, confirming earlier studies, tocotrienols created new arterioles to restore blood flow and oxygen to the areas affected by ischemic attacks.

Conclusion

There are many other studies of tocotrienols and liver disease, heart disease, brain health, bone health, anti-cancer, anti-diabetes, etc. Patients with dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, have lower levels of both tocopherols and tocotrienols.

Alpha tocotrienol offers more neuroprotection than other tocotrienols or tocopherols. One-billion-billionth of a mole (attomole) of alpha tocotrienol can block brain cell death from overstimulation of glutamate. So literally, any amount of alpha tocotrienol in your body can provide miraculous brain cell-saving protection.

I buy vitamin E (mixed tocopherols and mixed tocotrienols) and vitamin K (with both MK4 and MK7). Not all the foods I choose to eat provide adequate levels of all eight components of vitamin E and the two menaquinones found in vitamin K.

Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com

 

 

2 Responses

  1. I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.

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