In the last article in this important series on battling high cholesterol, I present you with the secret supplement. Not many people have heard of tocotrienols, but the evidence is excellent that they could improve your cholesterol profile.
Read the previous article Two Things You Must Eat to Lower Cholesterol
Tocotrienols are, in fact, vitamins. There are eight different forms of vitamin E; four are tocopherols and four are tocotrienols. Tocotrienols are found mainly in cereal grains, such as oat, barely, rice bran, and rye, with the richest source in virgin crude palm oil. There are several human studies showing that tocotrienol supplements lower cholesterol levels. Here are the key studies:
In a double-blind, crossover, eight-week study, the effects of tocotrienol-enriched palm oil (200 mg “PalmVitee” capsules a day) was compared to 300 mg of corn oil a day. In those treated with the tocotrienols, total cholesterol fell 15%, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by eight percent, and glucose 12%. In seven people with high cholesterol, 200 mg of gamma-tocotrienol a day led to a total cholesterol drop of 31%.
In a good-quality study, 19 type 2 diabetes patients with high cholesterol took tocotrienols for 60 days. They showed a 23% decrease in total blood fat, 30% decrease in total cholesterol, and 42% decrease in LDL cholesterol.
In a study of 120 people whose high cholesterol was over 230 mg/dl, the participants received either citrus flavonoids (270 mg) plus tocotrienols (30 mg), or placebo for four or 12 weeks. The natural remedy lowered total cholesterol by between 20% and 30%, and dropped LDL cholesterol by 19% to 27% and triglycerides by 24% to 34%.
These are very encouraging results. Now let’s compare tocotrienols to statin drugs prescribed to combat high cholesterol:
Statin drugs: Lower LDL levels 18% to 55%…raise HDL levels five percent to 15%…lower triglycerides seven percent to 30%
Tocotrienols: Lower LDL levels 19% to 27%…do not raise HDL levels…lower triglycerides 24% to 34%
Not bad for a natural remedy.