LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Tocopherols

Tocopherols inhibit cyclooxygenase activity – (11-06-00)

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Tocopherols inhibit cyclooxygenase activity

Science has spent millions (if not billions) of dollars and many years to develop selective COX-2 inhibitors because the traditional nonselective COX inhibitors were too dangerous. And side effects of these drugs are starting to pop up…deaths and heart failure as a warmup…. But nature does make some very safe and VERY selective COX-2 inhibitors!! This article reviews a very specific type of nutrient, gamma tocopherol and its metabolite (tocopherol is Vit E…).

PNAS — Abstracts: Jiang et al. 97 (21): 11494

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Vitamin E protects cholesterol from damage – (05-03-01)

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α-Tocopherol decreases CD36 expression in macrophages

I know this title seems confusing, but in general it supports previous research on Vit E preventing the damage caused by high cholesterol levels. Remember–high cholesterol can not damage the body until it itself is damaged. Antioxidant therapy should be an instrumental aspect of any therapy aimed at lowering cholesterol. A little note here—the tocopherols (in which Vit E belongs) is actually a group of numerous types. The highest quality supplements will contain mixed tocopherols to best mimic nature.

J. Lipid Res. — Abstracts: Devaraj et al. 42 (4): 521

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What are the wonderful health benefits of nuts? – (04-22-04)

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Walnut Diet Improves Endothelial Function in Hypercholesterolemic Subjects

Many people still avoid nuts because of their high fat content. Unfortunately, these people are losing out on some wonderful health benefits of nuts. Not only that the fat content of many types of nuts has shown positive benefits on lipids, but the presence of Vit E and other tocopherols (Vit E’s powerful cousins) confer additional protection. Just remember to choose natural nuts–not those soaked in additional oils such as cottonseed.

Circulation — Abstracts: Ros et al. 109 (13): 1609 –

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SUPPLEMENTATION OF DIETS REDUCES SERUM CONCENTRATIONS OF TOCOPHEROLS – (10-15-03)

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Supplementation of Diets with alpha-Tocopherol Reduces Serum Concentrations of other Tocopherols

I have come across this concept several times in the past and find it interesting. Basically, there are several types of tocopherols (Vit E as alpha tocopherol being the most famous) and supplementation of one without the other results in deficiencies of the other tocopherals in the bloodstream.

Most high quality Vit E supplements and most multivitamins will have more than just alpha tocopherol to compensate for this phenomena. This is also another wonderful example of Mother Nature having a way of doing things that we take years to figure out why she did it that way…

nutrition.org — Abstracts: Huang and Appel 133 (10): 3137

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IMPORTANCE OF A BALANCE OF TOCOPHEROLS – (12-06-05)

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Importance of tocopherols beyond tocopherol: evidence from animal and human studies

It’s nice to see a review illuminating the importance of a balance of tocopherols. Remember that what we normally consider as vitamin E is really alpha tocopherol, and that there are at least four known tocopherols, all of which have interactions between one another to generate health. Mother nature provided a nice blend of these tocopherols in natural oils. This is yet another big difference between the cheap multivitamins and the higher quality ones–most higher quality vitamins contain mixed tocopherols.

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DOES VITAMIN E HAVE POWERFUL HEALTH EFFECTS? – (07-11-05)

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Cardioprotection with palm tocotrienol: antioxidant activity linked w/ its ability to stabilize proteasomes

As you all remember, tocotrienols are essentially vit E’s big cousin with some powerful health effects.  The tocopherols and tocotrienols hang out in the same circles and most of the best quality vit E supplements contain both of these substances.

But now, with all the negative attention on vit E, might we be trowing the baby out with the bathwater by telling everyone to avoid vit E?

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AVOID CANNED NUTS TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL – (07-09-07)

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Almonds Decrease Postprandial Gylcemia, Insulinemia, and Oxidative Damage in Healthy Individuals

When discussing the health benefits of nuts, it is important to differentiate the unaltered nut (as found in most bulk food sections) vs the canned, “Plantars’ nut” type of nut. Most canned nuts have cottonseed oil added in, raising the levels of omega-6 and completely undoing the health benefits of the fats in the nuts.

I recently had a patient that “tried everything” to lower her cholesterol. Reminds me of the drug commercials that make it sound like lifestyle changes are not always enough… A mere switching away from canned nuts brought her cholesterol under 200 for the first time in years. Besides the healthy fats, nuts contain a mixture of tocopherols and tocotrienols; compounds well known to protect us from oxidative damage.

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POSITIVE ROLE OF VITAMIN E ON OUR HEALTH – (08-25-08)

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Serum Micronutrient Concentrations and Decline in Physical Function Among Older Persons

With some negative research on Vit E that was published several years ago, many physicians who do not understand the physiology behind Vit E began to recommend patients stop taking it. So, instead of taking the opportunity to educate their patients on Vit E differences (different tocopherols, tocotrienols, natural synthetic), we’ve really messed them up further.

There is absolutely no doubt that Vit E plays of positive role on our health, but there are some caveats. Mother Nature provides a blend of tocopherols and tocotrienols in foods, with gamma-tocopherol being the dominant form. The vast majority of supplements for Vit E are only the synthetic alpha-tocopherol form. High intake of alpha will lower serum levels of gamma.

So, the idea that we would have some limited problems with high dose only alpha tocopherol supplementation is not that surprising. We should’ve used this research as a teaching tool for our patients. The problem is that we’ve been seeing some evidence of increased rates of diabetes and now declining physical function in patients with lower serum levels of Vit E.

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