Vitamin E-T8 from Kala Health

Kala Health Vitamin E T8 Complete contains all eight forms of vitamin E in one capsule. All vitamins E are of natural origin, so no synthetic forms! Natural forms of vitamin E can be identified by the prefix ‘d-‘ (as in d-alpha tocopherol) or ‘RRR-‘ (as in RRR-alpha tocopherol).

What is vitamin E?

Vitamin E is an essential, fat-soluble vitamin of which eight forms occur in nature:

Four belong to the tocopherol family (alpha, beta, gamma and delta)
Four belong to the tocotrienol family (alpha, beta, gamma and delta)

Only alpha-tocopherol is usually used in foods and nutritional supplements. However, there are strong indications that the other three tocopherols are also important. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to tocotrienols, which appear to exceed tocopherols in effectiveness. It has also become clear that tocopherols and tocotrienols have a synergistic effect. So it makes sense to take them all.

The main function of vitamin E is to support the body in protecting cells and tissues against oxidative damage. Nowadays we are all exposed to unwanted external influences, such as excessive UV radiation from sunlight and environmental pollution. The body could therefore use some support.

Vitamine E benefits

Permitted health claims for vitamin E are:

Contributes to the protection of cells against oxidative damage
Helps the (natural) immune system of the body cells
Helps protect against the effects of sunlight and pollution

Superior Absorption

Vitamin E is generally not well absorbed. Taking vitamin E capsules with a fatty meal improves absorption slightly, but not sufficiently. The producer of the tocotrienols in this vitamin E complex has succeeded in developing a unique and patented ‘self-emulsifying delivery’ system

This system ensures that fat-soluble nutrients automatically form small globules (’emulsion’) in the gastrointestinal tract. These fat globules are absorbed quickly and efficiently. Research with human volunteers has shown that this system improves the absorption of all individual tocotrienols by an average of 250%!

But the tocopherols also benefit from this: both tocopherols and tocotrienols are mixed in one capsule and the ‘self emulsifying delivery’ system works for all fat-soluble ingredients. That is why this formula can rightly be called a ‘Bio-enhanced vitamin E complex’.

Tocopherols and Tocotrienols

Both tocotrienol and tocopherol are members of the same family. Their molecular structure is very similar: both contain a chromanol ring (with a hydroxyl group that can cleave off a hydrogen atom to neutralize free radicals), and a fat-soluble side chain.

The only difference is in the side chain: it is saturated with tocopherol and unsaturated with tocotrienol. It is believed that the unsaturated side chain (three double bonds) of tocotrienol increases the flexibility of the molecule, making it better able to penetrate the cell membrane and exert its protective influence.

Because of this property, tocotrienol is also known as Polyunsaturated Vitamin E, or the Super Vitamin E of the 21st Century.

The Quality of Vitamin E

Vitamin E is extracted from various vegetable oils. Tocopherols are usually extracted from sunflower oil and soybean oil, while palm oil is the main source of tocotrienols. The extraction of these raw materials involves quite a few issues:

It is important that the vegetable oil comes from clean and, above all, sustainable cultivation. This is especially the case with palm oil. It is known that a lot of jungle is being lost worldwide at the expense of palm oil plantations. A number of countries are leading the way in making palm oil cultivation more sustainable and certified, and it is important to only source palm oil from such sustainable and certified nurseries.

Much oil is heated, processed and refined to optimize yields. However, this can produce toxic substances, some of the infamous ones being Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Glycidyl Fatty Acid Esters (GEs) and Chlorinated Paraffins (GPs). Organic solvents are also almost always used, of which residues can be left behind.

It is our experience that almost no supplier of vitamin E nutritional supplements pays attention to this. But we do! Sustainability and quality are of the utmost importance to us, and we do everything we can to make this happen for all the oils we use for our vitamin E formulas:

• All oils rich in tocotrienols come from sustainably certified nurseries
• All oils we use are not heated, processed or refined.
• The tocopherols and tocotrienols are extracted from the oil through a process called Molecular Distillation, at high pressure and low temperature. This means that any contaminants remain behind and no toxic substances such as PAHs, GEs and GPs are created, and no organic solvents are used.
• Every batch of oil we use is tested in advance for the absence of PAHs and heavy metals by an independent and renowned laboratory in the Netherlands. We only use the oil after the laboratory has confirmed that no such contaminants have been found (below the lowest possible detection value).
• All test reports and certificates are available for anyone who wants to view them.

In this way we can guarantee to offer the most concentrated vitamin E formulas of the highest quality.

Natural sources of vitamine E

Vitamin E is not produced by the body and must be consumed through diet and nutritional supplements. Rich sources of tocopherol include vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, as well as (oily) fish, whole grains, some vegetables (such as spinach) and fruits.

Tocotrienol is much less common in nature, and is only found in grains such as rice, barley, wheat and rye. The richest source of tocotrienol is palm oil (Elaeis guineensis), with amounts of up to 800 mg tocotriennol per kg of palm oil.

For general well-being, the Recommended Intake (AI) of α-tocopherol is set at 12 mg/day. However, the safe upper limit for adults is set at 300 mg/day. The optimal intake will be somewhere between these two numbers, and will vary from person to person

No Recommended Intake (AI) has been established for tocotrienols, but scientific research shows that an optimal daily intake of 30-50mg / day can be considered. To obtain this amount solely through food, approximately 80 grams of palm oil would have to be consumed daily, or 1.5 to 4.0 kg of wheat germ, barley or oats, which would be difficult in practice. For this reason, it is strongly recommended to take additional tocotrienols through nutritional supplements.

There are four commercial sources of tocotrienols available: unprocessed crude palm oil, palm fat distillate, rice bran oil, and annatto seeds. Unprocessed crude palm oil is the richest natural source of tocotrienol at 78%. Palm fat distillate and rice oil, on the other hand, contain 70% and 50% tocotrienol respectively. Annatto seeds are a rich source, but only contain delta- and gamma-tocotrienol, and no tocopherol.Our different vitamin E formulas can be found in the table below:

What is the Recommended Dosage?

Most vitamin E formulas contain up to 400 IU, supplied by alpha-tocopherol alone. Although such a formula seems very strong, it is not of much use in practice. What is much more important is that the other tocopherols are also present in sufficient quantities, especially the tocotrienols. A general rule of thumb is therefore: it is not the IUs that determine how strong a vitamin E formula is, but the Milligrams of the various forms of vitamin E.

A good maintenance dose is 50 mg of mixed tocotrienols per day, while the mixed tocopherols can be varied as needed. For therapeutic purposes, the recommended amount of tocotrienols can be up to 100 – 200 mg  per day. Such an intake falls well within the safety levels that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has established for nutritional supplements. The maximum safe intake for vitamin E is set by the EFSA at 300 mg per day.

With regard to this Vitamin E T8 Complete formula, the recommended dosage for adults is one capsule per day, unless otherwise advised. Because vitamin E is fat soluble, it is best to take the capsule during a meal.