Re: The Vitamin E Family-more Than Antioxidants

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

While the message included:

" It is these antioxidant-independent benefits of the

tocopherols and the tocotrienols that are capturing

attention increasingly. Indeed, as one review paper

has put it, " many molecules have the ability to

chemically scavenge free radicals and thus act in the

test tube as antioxidant, but their main biological

function is by acting as hormones, ligands for

transcription factors, modulators of enzymatic

activities or as structural components. " (Curr Med Chem. May 2004.

Vol. n (9) pp. 1113-33.) " ,

the above reference:

http://tinyurl.com/5wpse

states:

" in higher organisms only alpha-tocopherol is preferentially

retained " .

Cheers, Al Pater.

> The Vitamin E Family-more Than Antioxidants

>

> Total Health

>

> 15 Dec 2004

>

> Originally Published:20041001.

>

> The connection between antioxidants and health

> constitutes one of the most successful conjectures in

> modern science. Theories linking oxidative damage to

> aging and to various disease states date back only to

> the 1940's. Johan Bjorksten, a research chemist

> working for a branch of Eastman Kodak, first observed

> a similarity between the aging of film materials and

> the aging of human tissues in 1941. He surmised that

> the common point is the damage to both by free

> radicals and that in living organisms this damage

> results in the cross-linking of protein molecules,

> including the RNA and DNA strands which reproduce all

> the proteins in the body. In the 19505 Denham Harman

> of the University of Nebraska put theory into practice

> by experimenting with the addition of antioxidants and

> other free radical deactivators to the diets of

> laboratory mice. His trials resulted in dramatically

> increased life spans for his experimental animals.

> These results often have been duplicated and even

> surpassed, which is good. However, the success of the

> antioxidant theory sometimes leads us to overlook what

> are often the more significant roles of nutrients that

> just happen to be antioxidants. Vitamin E is but one

> example of this, as scientists are only belatedly

> coming to realize. The most powerfully health

> supportive members of the family apparently are not

> always the ones that are the best antioxidants. This

> is important news for anyone who supplements with

> vitamin E or who should be supplementing with this

> vitamin.

>

> The term " vitamin E " refers to a family of at least

> eight related fat-soluble antioxidant compounds.

[snip}