Tocotrienols Softgels

Each softgel provides 125 mg of tocotrienols from annatto, 90% delta tocotrienol and 10% gamma tocotrienol. Take 1 softgel two or three times a day with food, as the label directs. A pot holds 90 softgels, a 45-day supply at two a day. The shell is bovine gelatin with glycerin and purified water, so the softgels are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. Nutrient reference values exist for vitamin E as alpha tocopherol only, which is why the label shows no percentage.

Sources: Product label.

Tocotrienols are one half of the vitamin E family. Vitamin E is the name for eight related compounds: four tocopherols and four tocotrienols, each in an alpha, beta, gamma and delta form. Almost every vitamin E supplement is alpha tocopherol, the form the body maintains in blood and the only one on which the daily requirement is set. A tocotrienol has the same ring as a tocopherol but a different side chain, with three double bonds. The delta and gamma forms are the two most studied. So a tocotrienol supplement is vitamin E, of a kind that ordinary vitamin E products do not contain.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Annatto, the seed of the achiote tree, is the one plant source that yields tocotrienols with no tocopherol at all. Rice bran and palm oil, the other two sources, carry alpha tocopherol alongside their tocotrienols. That matters because alpha tocopherol has repeatedly been reported to interfere with tocotrienol uptake and activity. It is why this softgel is delta and gamma only, and why it is described as tocopherol-free. Products sold as delta-fraction tocotrienols, or under the DeltaGOLD name, are the same annatto extract at the same 90 to 10 ratio. It is not a full-spectrum vitamin E: it contains two of the eight forms and no alpha tocopherol.

Sources: Nutritional Outlook review; product label.

Tocotrienols supply vitamin E, which contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress. That is the one function of vitamin E recognised on the GB register of nutrition and health claims. Research on the tocotrienols themselves is at an early stage. The most studied action is on HMG-CoA reductase, the enzyme that makes cholesterol: delta and gamma tocotrienol speed up its breakdown, an action the tocopherols do not have. In a dose-ranging trial in people with raised cholesterol, 250 mg of annatto delta tocotrienol a day was the most effective of the doses tested over four weeks. Those trials are small and largely industry-linked, so the fair reading is a possible adjunct, never a substitute for prescribed cholesterol treatment.

Sources: GB register of nutrition and health claims; NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; peer-reviewed trial (Qureshi and colleagues, 2015).

There is no daily requirement for tocotrienols, because the requirement for vitamin E is set on alpha tocopherol. Trials have used 125 mg to 750 mg of annatto tocotrienols a day. In the dose-ranging trial, 250 mg a day, two of these softgels, was the most effective amount tested, with no extra effect at higher doses. Two or three softgels a day, as the label directs, therefore covers the studied range. The safety ceiling for vitamin E, 1,000 mg a day, is set on alpha tocopherol and does not transfer to tocotrienols directly. No trial at the doses above has reported harm.

Sources: Peer-reviewed trial (Qureshi and colleagues, 2015); NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; product label.

With food, every time. Tocotrienols are fat soluble, and a study of their absorption found that a fasted dose produces little rise in blood levels. The same dose taken with a meal is absorbed well, which is why the label says with food and why the evening meal is a common choice. Alpha tocopherol, the usual vitamin E, competes with tocotrienols. Anyone taking a standard vitamin E capsule as well should take it at a different meal, at least six hours apart.

Sources: Peer-reviewed study (Yap and colleagues, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 2001); product label.

Tocotrienol softgels are for people who want the tocotrienol half of vitamin E specifically, usually on a practitioner's suggestion. A second group is people already taking alpha tocopherol who want the other half of the family alongside it, at a separate time of day. Anyone who wants an annatto source, with no tocopherol and no palm oil, is in the same place. The softgels are not for vegetarians or vegans, because of the gelatin shell. Nor are they a way to meet the basic vitamin E requirement, which food and alpha tocopherol supply.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; product label.

Tocotrienols have not caused reported harm in the trials at the doses above, and the softgel contains nothing but the extract and its shell. The caution that applies to every form of vitamin E is bleeding. Vitamin E can add to the effect of warfarin and other anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs, and high doses are usually stopped before surgery. Anyone on those prescriptions, anyone with a bleeding disorder, and anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, should speak to a GP or pharmacist first.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.