The vitamin E family is broken into two subsets of compounds, known as tocotrienols and tocopherols, each of which exhibit unique biomechanisms and health effects. According to a recent study on American River Nutrition’s DeltaGold annatto-derived tocotrienol ingredient, this unique vitamin E formulation was able to improve insulin resistance and overall blood sugar control in diabetic patients, based on its improvements to fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), insulin concentrations, HOMA-IR scores, and various inflammation and oxidative stress markers.
 
In a 24-week study of 110 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, DeltaGold tocotrienol was administered at a dosage of 250 mg/day, which led to improved glycemic control, accompanied by reduced inflammation and oxidative stress. Following blood tests, this was further confirmed by modified miRNA expression (the three-fold modifications to miRNA expression were linked to improvements in diabetes, inflammation, and oxidative stress). These health benefits were also compared to a blind and placebo group, with all patients being advised on a lifestyle modification of regular physical activity and continuation on their typical hypoglycemic agents without insulin usage.
 
Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) occurs when cells respond poorly to insulin, a key regulator of blood sugar. The resulting insulin resistance prevents sugar from entering cells, causing high blood sugar which eventually leads to serious health conditions, including cardiovascular, neurological, eye, and kidney diseases. T2DM affects an estimated 34 million US adults, with an additional 88 million adults experiencing prediabetes in 2018. While pharmacological treatments for T2DM are abundant, they often present serious side effects, and several nutritional alternative interventions are able to reduce the need for hypoglycemic agents.
 
As a primary endpoint, the trial was designed to see if DeltaGold tocotrienol would be able to create greater significance in improvements to glucose control and inflammation beyond what could be achieved with drugs, diet, and exercise alone. HbA1c, a long-term measure of blood sugar control, was reduced from 8.3% to 7.8% – at the 7% threshold, diabetes complications are typically able to be delayed or prevented.
 
There was no change in HbA1c levels in the placebo group, which remained at 8.4%. Inflammation, marked by C-reactive protein, was reduced by 10% in the supplementation group, whereas these levels increased in the placebo group. Oxidative stress was also lowered significantly, with the biomarker malondialdehyde (MDA) dropped by 9% without change in the placebo group.
 
Significant reductions were also achieved for fasting blood glucose (6.8%), insulin (7.6%), and HOMA-IR (13.1%), while these biomarkers remained largely unchanged in the placebo group.
 
While the study was not designed to measure blood lipids, the researchers also noted that triglyceride levels dropped by 10.3%, with only a 0.9% change in the placebo group. Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels also dropped by 7.2% and 8.5% respectively with little to no change in the placebo group.
 
The inflammatory markers IL-6 and TNF-alpha also dropped by 15.9% and 13.7% respectively, with little to no change in the placebo group.
 
“For the first time, tocotrienol has been shown to reduce functional insulin secretion and successfully manage blood sugar via multiple avenues, thereby improving T2DM hyperglycemic control,” Dr. Barrie Tan, president of American River Nutrition, said. Tan said that the reason similar studies have been unable to substantiate such results could be that the former supplements used didn’t have the same concentrations of delta- and gamma-tocotrienol isomers, and had a greater presence of alpha-tocopherol, which could have been a less efficacious formulation for these benefits.
 
“It is well-known through previous clinical trials that tocopherol-free tocotrienol controls lipidemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress,” Tan said. “Seeing these benefits extend to diabetes is not entirely unexpected, but remarkable nonetheless.”