Tocotrienols – Just My Type

Source: Remedies, February 2006

People with Type 2 diabetes may develop an accelerated form of atherosclerosis. In fact, 80 percent of people with Type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis are likely to die from an “atherosclerotic event.” Although high levels of blood sugar make even borderline high levels of blood fats (lipids) a serious problem, most lipid-lowering  pharmaceutical drugs have unwanted side effects.

Understanding that the tocotrienols from vitamin E offer some proven benefits in this area, researchers from India gave either tocotrienols or a placebo for two months to 19 patients with Type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia. After treatment, the supplemented patients experienced drops of 23 percent in total lipids, 30 percent in total cholesterol, and 42 percent in LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol, leading the researchers to conclude that daily supplementation with this tocotrienol extract (available only in concentrated form as supplements) by people with Type 2 diabetes will be “useful in the prevention and treatment” of high levels of blood fats and coronary artery disease.