Tocotrienol Vitamin E &
Cholesterol Metabolism

Gamma tocotrienol communicates with the primary enzyme involved with cholesterol metabolism, HMG-CoA reductase. In normal cholesterol metabolism, the production of cholesterol is self regulating. This is similar to a person at the end of a production line making a phone call back to the person at the front of the line, telling them enough widgets have been made. In cholesterol metabolism this occurs through the production of isoprenoids in one of the branch pathways of normal cholesterol production. Isoprenoids communicate back to the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme and tell it to "go home from work for the day, you are no longer needed." As it turns out, the tail of gamma tocotrienol is an isoprenoid that assists in modulating cholesterol production in a natural manner. Human and animal studies have shown that tocotrienols are an excellent tool to support healthy cholesterol metabolism and fitness.*

Tocotrienols differ from regular vitamin E because they have a short, flexible, and biologically active side chain or "tail" (an isoprenoid called farnesol). By comparison, regular vitamin E has a long and stiff tail that is not useful. In some cases this means that tocotrienols are superior to plain E in basic vitamin E chores, such as antioxidant capacity.*