Brain protection with tocotrienols

Palm oil has been shown to increase blood circulation in arteries that feed the brain, thus helping to maintain brain health and prevent strokes.

Mostly on the basis of symptoms of primary vitamin E deficiency, it has been demonstrated that vitamin E has a central role in maintaining neurological structure and function.

Studies have shown that palm tocotrienols are significantly effective in protecting the brain against damage caused by an assortment of oxidative toxins. Tocotrienols not only protects fats in brain cells but also proteins.

Many studies showed that tocotrienols-induced apoptosis results from the activation of specific intracellular cysteine proteases associated with death receptor activation and signal transduction.

Tocotrienols are protective in stroke-induced injuries. Natural palm tocotrienols complex fed to hypertensive rats led to increased tocotrienols levels in the brain, and more protection against stroke –induced injury compared to controls.
Brain protection with tocotrienols

Tocotrienols in palm oil

Vitamin E is one of the major essential vitamins. Since vitamin E is an essential nutrient for protecting the bio-membrane from oxidative damage, people have to take in sufficient amounts of vitamin E to maintain and promote nutritional health.

Vitamin E consists of two subgroups called tocopherols and tocotrienols. Tocotrienols are less common and belong to the vitamin E family and are potent lipid antioxidant. In foods, in which they occur, they are generally only found in small amounts.

Tocotrienols have become a focus of research in recent years because of new findings showing their high efficacy in protecting against heart-related diseases, including lowering of cholesterol and against certain cancers.

The sources with the largest amount of tocotrienols include wheat, barley, rice and most abundantly, the fruit of the palm from which palm oil is extracted.

Palm oil is by far the richest source of tocotrienols.

Palm oil is unique because it contains both tocotrienols and tocopherols unlike other vegetable oils some of which contain mainly alpha-tocopherol as the major tocopherol component.

The tumor protective effect of tocotrienols form palm oil was demonstrated by Komiyama and Yamoka (1993), Nesaretnam (1995), Guthrie (1997) and others.

The vitamin E fraction of palm oil, which is rich in tocotrienols, appears to be important in reducing certain tumors because palm oil stripped of the vitamin E does increase tumor yields.
Tocotrienols in palm oil