Delta-Fraction Tocotrienols

Nutricology Delta-Fraction Tocotrienols 50 mg. contains tocotrienols from annatto beans and is free of tocopherols. Tocotrienols have more powerful antioxidant activity than tocopherols, and delta-tocotrienol is the strongest of the four tocotrienols. Delta-Fraction Tocotrienols contains delta and gamma-tocotrienols. Along with tocopherols, tocotrienols are part of the vitamin E family. They are important oil-soluble antioxidants, crucial to the protection of fats, oils, and cell membranes against free radical damage. Free radicals are reactive oxygen compounds generated by our normal biological processes and by exposure to ultraviolet radiation, pollution, cigarette smoke and other environmental and biological stress factors. High levels of free radicals can break down cell membranes and damage cell DNA.

Tocotrienols have been shown to strengthen arterial walls, and to support blood flow through arteries (coronary, carotid, and peripheral). Tocotrienols help prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, and some studies suggest that tocotrienols may prevent cholesterol oxidation more effectively than tocopherols. Unlike tocopherols, delta- and gamma-tocotrienols also support healthy levels of cholesterol, including total and LDL cholesterol. Tocotrienols have an inhibitory effect on HMG-CoA reductase, the liver enzyme that is critical to the rate at which cholesterol is synthesized. Tocotrienols may potentially support endothelial functions and overall cardiovascular health in other ways, including supporting healthy levels of thromboxane, adhesion molecules, and C-reactive protein (CRP), and healthy platelet aggregation. Tocotrienols do not lower plasma coenzyme Q10 as do the statin drugs, but instead increase it.