BY STEVE BORN
The vitamin E family has eight members - four tocopherols and four tocotrienols - alpha, beta, delta, and gamma. Studies suggest that a mixture of tocopherols and tocotrienols yields optimal health benefits, versus regular vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) alone.
Dr. Karin Granstrom Jordan writes, While alpha-tocopherol has long been known as an important antioxidant, research has now shown that the complete vitamin E team is much more effective. The different vitamin E forms have complementary effects as free radical scavengers. Together they can fight a wider spectrum of free radicals than alpha-tocopherol alone.
Without detracting from the long known multiple benefits of d-alpha tocopherol, the gamma tocopherol component may be as important, if not more so. Research has suggested that supplementing with just the alpha tocopherol component (which is what you typically find in most supplements) may lower the body's gamma tocopherol level significantly.
According to vitamin E expert, Dr. Maret G. Traber, While both alpha- and gamma-tocopherol are potent antioxidants, gamma-tocopherol has a unique function. Because of its different chemical structure, gamma-tocopherol scavenges reactive nitrogen species, which, like reactive oxygen species, can damage proteins, lipids, and DNA.
In addition to its impressive antioxidant properties, gamma tocopherol has been shown to provide superior anti-inflammatory benefits. Inflammation is a primary culprit in virtually all degenerative diseases. Gamma tocopherol also increases the levels of both alpha tocopherol and gamma tocopherol, whereas alpha tocopherol alone may lower the body's levels of gamma tocopherol. AO Booster has more gamma tocopherol than the other three tocopherols combined.
Tocotrienols may be even more potent free radical scavengers than the tocopherols. According to research by Dr. Lester Packer and Dr. Barrie Tan, tocotrienols may have 30-60 times more antioxidant power than alpha tocopherol.
In addition to their powerful antioxidant properties, tocotrienols provide a wide range of health benefits such as:
- Powerful support for helping prevent cancer. Like tocopherols, tocotrienols help inhibit several mechanisms necessary for tumor development and growth.
- Improving cholesterol levels. Research suggests that tocotrienols are effective in lowering serum total and LDL-cholesterol levels by inhibiting the hepatic enzymic activity of HMG-CoA reductase.
- Protecting against cardiovascular disease. Tocotrienols have been shown to decrease blood levels of homocysteine (elevated levels are implicated in cardiovascular disease.) One study found that tocotrienols provided this benefit even more powerfully than folate, which is often thought of as the premier homocysteine-lowering nutrient.
- Protection from heart attack or stroke. Tocotrienols provide resistance to ischemia, which is defined as an inadequate blood supply to an organ or part of the body, especially the heart muscles.
- Improving metabolic syndrome. Tocotrienols positively influence, and may help to reverse, many aspects of metabolic syndrome. This syndrome includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and excess abdominal fat.
- Support against liver cancer and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Emerging research is revealing that tocotrienols provide powerful support for liver health, with equally potent protection against liver cancer and NAFLD.
Summary
The benefits that the combination of all four tocopherols and all four tocotrienols provide are just the tip of the iceberg. Research continues to reveal even more potential benefits, such as protection against diabetes, osteoporosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. The tocopherols and tocotrienols that are supplied by food sources are incomplete and fairly minimal, making a combination of diet and supplementation a necessity.
AO Booster provides the full-spectrum benefits that regular vitamin E simply can't. Each AO Booster capsule contains 50 mg of tocotrienols and 150 mg of tocopherols, with emphasis on the gamma tocopherol component. One capsule of AO Booster once or twice daily supplies an excellent dose of the entire family of E, along with the other multi-beneficial nutrients lutein and astaxanthin.
