Absorption and Bioavailability of Tocotrienol
YOU ARE what you ABSORB
NOT what you EAT
The benefits offered by tocotrienols in health and diseases must be accompanied by a relatively good absorption of the compounds into the bloodstream by the gastrointestinal tract. Poor absorption will result in poor bioavailability and subsequently poor bioefficiency. Consumers will not be able to obtain the optimal benefits that tocotrienols can provide.
Lipid materials, including tocotrienols are ferried across the intestinal wall into the bloodstream by micelles. Micelles are only present when lipases and bile salts are produced. The bile help emulsify fat-soluble materials to provide them with greater surface area so as to enhance absorption into the bloodstream.
Dietary fat must be sufficient in amount for adequate secretions of the lipases and bile. Like other fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,K) the absorption of tocotrienols will not be complete without the presence of dietary fat. Therefore their absorption in the bloodstream will be erratic, especially when taken in fasted condition. The consistency of bile and lipase secretions in between doses also plays a major role in determining the extent of absorption.
Despite these shortcomings, a new system has been designed to provide an improved absorption of tocotrienols to its users. With this new emulsifying system, users are assured of a 200% – 300% increase in absorption. Besides this, its absorption will be more consistent as this will not have to depend on the intake of dietary fat. Emulsions have been known to improve absorption of oil-soluble drugs. However, conventional emulsions are not a preferred dosage since they are bulky, have shorter shelf life due to stability issue and are less palatable. In recent years, there has been great interest in self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDS) due to the many advantages offered by these kind of systems which include enhanced bioavailability, improved reproducibility of plasma profiles and reduced inter- and intra-subject variability.
The newly designed system to improve tocotrienol’s absorption is essentially an optimal combination of suitable oil and a suitable surfactant system that self-emulsifies in the gastrointestinal tract. The oil contains a suitable fatty acid composition, which promotes absorption of tocotrienols via the lymphatic system. This combination, upon in vivo administration forms fine oil in water emulsions spontaneously with gentle agitation. Therefore, this combination is not dependent on bile secretion for absorption. The emulsified form itself is already readily absorbable. This ensures a rapid transport of tocotrienols into the blood.
Bioavailability and Bioefficiency of EVNol SupraBio™
In a ground-breaking human clinical study published in the Journal of Nutrition (2012), supplementation of tocotrienols from EVNol SupraBio™ shows that tocotrienols are taken up efficiently and deposited at vital human organs, such as the brain, the liver, the heart, as well as skin and fat tissues.
EVNol SupraBio™ is the only tocotrienol/tocopherol complex in the market that has actual human tissue distribution study that has been proven to increase absorption of orally supplemented tocotrienol into the plasma (bioavailability) and accumulation into vital human organs (bioefficiency).
Visit www.tocotrienol.org for more information about tocotrienol.