Recommended Dose:

• Take two capsules daily, in divided dose with meals; or as directed by a health care professional.

Recommended use or purpose:

• An antioxidant for the maintenance of good health.

Cautions & Warnings:

• Consult a health care practitioner prior to use if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or have cancer or cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

Vitamin E is the official designation for alpha tocopherol, a fat-soluble nutrient found in the diet in varying amounts. It was first discovered in 1922. The term vitamin E is used to refer to all tocol and trienol derivatives. The tocols are alpha, beta, delta and gamma tocopherol, and the trienols are alpha, beta, delta and gamma tocotrienol. All of these have some vitamin E activity, and until recently it was thought alpha tocopherol was the most active form. As such, official vitamin E activity (IU) is only given to alpha tocopherol.

Research however, suggests that gamma tocopherol is as biologically active as alpha tocopherol and that vitamin E products should contain both tocopherols for maximum benefit.⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾
A key benefit is gamma tocopherol’s ability to dramatically reduce inflammatory threats, a major cause of virtually all degenerative diseases. Research supports the importance of gamma tocopherol in preventing numerous components of degenerative diseases associated with ageing.⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾

Gamma tocopherol has far more powerful anti-inflammatory actions than does the alpha form. It is more potent at inhibiting certain inflammatory cytokines in cell structures and in living animals. ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾ ⁽⁹⁾ In a study comparing the effects of gamma vs. alpha tocopherol in preventing oxidation of LDL, scientists found that it was gamma tocopherol that provided potent protection in every parameter. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Cardiovascular diseases are recognized as the result of oxidative stress and inflammation at every stage. Gamma tocopherol has the unique ability to block inflammation and to induce favourable changes in blood vessel function.

Supplementation in humans with only 100 mg per day of gamma tocopherol demonstrated a reduction in several risk factors for arterial clotting such as platelet aggregation and LDL cholesterol. ⁽⁹⁾

Another study using a daily supplement containing 800 mg of gamma tocopherol resulted in reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation in adults with metabolic syndrome.⁽¹¹⁾ The effects were even more pronounced when 800 mg of alpha tocopherol was added, demonstrating that both forms of vitamin E are synergistically vital for optimum cardiovascular health. This is approx. the amount in 5 Gamma E Alpha capsules.

A 1993 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 90, March 1993)⁽¹⁾, shows that gamma tocopherol is superior to alpha tocopherol in the detoxification of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nitrogen dioxide is a highly reactive free radical that has been linked to increased cancer risk in humans. A revealing epidemiologic study on the populations of Fiji and the Cook islands showed that the serum gamma tocopherol level in the Fiji population was two-fold higher than the Cook Islanders, while the Fijian's lung cancer rate was 10-20 times lower. Both groups had similar a-tocopherol levels and both groups had similar smoking patterns.⁽¹⁾

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 94, April 1997) suggests that it could be dangerous to take high doses of Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) without also consuming gamma tocopherol. The study showed that high doses of alpha tocopherol on its own displace gamma tocopherol in tissues.⁽²⁾

Gamma tocopherol is the predominant tocopherol in natural oils, and it is gamma tocopherol that is being re-evaluated for its role in human nutrition and disease prevention. In another study, also published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 97, October 2000), scientists have shown that gamma tocopherol plays a critical role in the defence against cancer and cardiovascular disease by inhibiting the process of inflammation more effectively than alpha tocopherol.⁽³⁾

As with cardiovascular disease, gamma tocopherol exerts anti-cancer effects through a variety of important mechanisms, giving it a broad spectrum of actions against a host of tumor types. At the beginning of the cancer development process gamma tocopherol traps reactive nitrogen species and other free radicals that cause mutations in DNA strands and renders cells vulnerable to malignant transformation.⁽²⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾

Another study, published in the December 20, 2000 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed that increased levels of gamma tocopherol are linked to a statistically significant reduction in the risk of prostate cancer. The authors concluded that, "Protective association with prostate cancer risk were observed when gamma tocopherol concentrations were above the control subject-based median value."⁽⁴⁾

A December 2002 study published in The FASB Journal found that gamma tocopherol inhibits proliferation of prostate and colon cancer cells more potently than alpha tocopherol, providing a cellular mechanism supporting the concept emerging from epidemiological studies that a greater magnitude of risk reduction for prostate and colon cancer may occur if both total Vitamin E consumption and the amount of gamma tocopherol in the diet or supplementation is increased.⁽¹⁶⁾

Gamma and delta tocopherols do prevent many cancers⁽¹⁹⁾

“The vitamin E form of gamma-tocopherols, the most abundant form of vitamin E in the American diet, and delta-tocopherols, also found in vegetable oils, are beneficial in preventing cancers while the form of Vitamin E, alpha tocopherol, the most commonly used vitamin E formulations, has no such benefit.”

Vitamin E has been shown to interact with some pollutants that are present in the environment and in the diet. The primary atmospheric pollutants, ozone and nitric oxide are capable of generating free radicals in the body. Gamma tocopherol has been shown to be the most effective tocopherol in neutralizing the harmful effect of ozone and nitric oxide⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾. The main dietary pollutants, nitrosamines, are amongst the most potent cancer causing agents in man. Alpha tocopherol, along with vitamin C reduces the formation of nitrosamines.

Vitamin E, in particular gamma tocopherol, may reduce the lung damage produced by cigarette smoke. Free radicals are generated in the lung by substances that are present in cigarette smoke. These free radicals are responsible for the increasing risk of lung cancer and emphysema.

The level of Vitamin E in the fluid surrounding lung tissue is six times less amongst smokers compared to non-smokers. Smokers, and those exposed to second hand smoke, need to supplement the diet with both alpha and gamma tocopherols.

In a December 2001 paper published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition "Gamma Tocopherol, the major form of Vitamin E in the US diet, deserves more attention"⁽¹⁵⁾. The authors summarize much of the research on the role of gamma tocopherol in preventing human disease, particularly its role in reducing the risk of CVD, cancer, diabetes and slowing down the ageing process.

A January 2003 study done at the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre, Johnson City, TN shows that different isoforms of Vitamin E (tocopherols) may be chemo-preventive, and that gamma tocopherol may be a more powerful chemo-preventive than alpha tocopherol.⁽¹²⁾

A March 2003 study compared the effects of mixed tocopherols, where gamma tocopherol was the predominant tocopherol, with alpha tocopherol acetate, on platelet aggregation. The study shows that high-gamma mixed tocopherols decreased platelet aggregation significantly whereas alpha tocopherol acetate on its own had little or no effect.⁽⁶⁾

In March 2013, a study published in Science Signaling⁽¹⁷⁾ showed that the Gamma Tocopherol form of Vitamin E blocks the activation of an enzyme known as Akt, also known as Protein Kinase B (PKB); a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that plays a key role in multiple cellular processes such as glucose metabolism, apoptosis, cell proliferation, transcription and cell migration. Akt is associated with tumor cell survival, proliferation, and invasiveness. The activation of Akt is also one of the most frequent alterations observed in human cancer and tumor cells.

Tumor cells that have constantly active Akt may depend on Akt for survival.⁽¹⁸⁾ Therefore, understanding Akt and its pathways is important for the creation of better therapies to treat cancer and tumor cells suggesting that the development of drugs structurally related to tocopherols might benefit the treatment of prostate and other cancers that are driven by Akt activity.

In recent years, consumers have been advised to use polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fats in order to reduce the risk of heart disease. The dietary need for Vitamin E increases when the intake of polyunsaturated fat increases. Cellular membranes containing polyunsaturated fats are more easily damaged by free radicals than those that contain saturated fats. In order to protect membranes containing high levels of polyunsaturated fat, increased consumption of both alpha and gamma tocopherols is essential.

Since the maximum blood levels of alpha and gamma tocopherol appear 4 to 6 hours after ingestion and drops to a basal level in about 12 hours, the maintenance of optimum levels of Vitamin E in the blood requires taking Gamma-Alpha E twice a day (morning and evening).

There are many forms of Vitamin E available in the marketplace, and the efficacy of each is different. There are the natural forms of Vitamin E and the synthetic forms. The synthetic forms are much less active than the natural forms, but there are also differences in activity among the natural forms.

Natural Vitamin E comes in two main forms; the un-esterified forms that include d' alpha tocopherol and d'gamma tocopherol, and the ester forms that include d'alpha tocopheryl acetate and d' alpha tocopheryl succinate. The ester forms, often referred to as co-natural, because they are only partly natural, are the most commonly available forms of the vitamin. The un-esterified forms of Vitamin E are absorbed directly from the digestive tract, whereas the ester forms must be first converted back to alpha tocopherol by pancreatic enzymes and bile before they are biologically active. This process can be inefficient in many people, and up to 50% of the ester form may not be converted. In addition, beta, delta and particularly gamma tocopherols have significant activity, and in combination with alpha tocopherol, represent the most biologically active forms of the Vitamin.

In summary, compelling scientific research suggests that it is unwise to take Vitamin E in the form of alpha tocopherol alone, and that a combination of gamma and alpha tocopherols where gamma tocopherol is predominate is ideal⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ ⁽⁴⁾. Another important factor in evaluating natural Vitamin E formulas is comparing the total tocopherols. One capsule of Gamma E Alpha contains 136 mg of alpha tocopherol (equivalent to 200 I.U.), and 168 mg of gamma tocopherol and 361 mg of total tocopherols.

Gamma E Alpha contains up to 35% more total tocopherols (equivalent to 540 I.U.) when compared to a typical 400 IU alpha tocopherol formula, which contains only 268 mg total tocopherols.

References:

1. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Vol. 90, March 1993
2. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Vol. 94, April 1997
3. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Vol. 97, October 2000
4. J Natl Cancer Inst, Vol. 92, No.24, 2018-2023, Dec. 20, 2000
5. Mol Aspects Med. 2007 Oct-Dec: (5-6):668-91
6. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Mar;77(3):530-1
7. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2000 Oct 10;97(21)11494-0
8. FASB J. 2003 May; 17(8):816-22
9. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16(3):422-8
10. J. Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 1999 Oct;4(4):219-36
11. Free Radic Biol Med. 2008 Mar15;44(6):1203-8
12. Current Drug Targets 2003 Jan:4(1):45-54
13. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003; 77: 700-6
14. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1997 Jul 16;89(14):1006-14
15. Am J Clin Nutr., Vol. 74, No. 6, 714-722, Dec. 2001
16. The FASB Journal, Vol. 16, December 2002
17. Science Signaling, March 2013
18. "Tumor Genetics; AKT Function and Oncogenic Activity". Scientific Report. Fox Chase Cancer Center. 2005
19. Cancer Institute of New Jersey; April 27, 2012

NOTE: For maximum benefit, take the SOURCE Optimum, SONA based vitamin/mineral/ enzyme formula and VEGAN Omega 3-6-9 to provide the body with optimum levels of other essential nutrients necessary to help maintain long term good health.

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