Malaysia is now the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world. Palm oil provides about 10% of the Malaysian gross domestic product. It is commonly used as cooking oil or an ingredient in margarines and shortenings. Many of us know that palm oil, like other vegetable oils, is cholesterol-free. However, not many of us know that the health benefits of palm oil extend beyond being just cholesterol-free.

Did you know that palm oil and palm oil products are naturally occurring sources of the antioxidant Vitamin E? The Vitamin E family is made up of cholesterols and tocotrienols. Whilst most of the vitamin E available in your local pharmacies are the more common tocopherols, in recent years, palm tocotrienols have generated much interest. Tocotrienol, the best kept secret of palm oil, is now recognized by medicine as possessing major health benefits.

The Benefits of Tocotrienols:

The effectiveness of tocotrienols as antioxidants have been tested against tocopherols. Research have shown that tocotrienols are 60 times more potent as an antioxidant compared to tocopherols. Tocotrienols are protective against cardiovascular diseases. They can reduce the risk of stroke, lower blood cholesterol level, and even clear fat deposits on the walls of arteries. The strongest evidence for tocotrienols on heart diseases comes from a 5-year clinical study conducted on humans with clogged arteries at the famous Kenneth Jordan Heart Center at New Jersey USA. A supplementation of four capsules of tocotrienol daily (50 mg tocotrienol per capsule), was able to clear up the fatty deposits on the heart patients arteries. A similar study in the University of North Carolina showed supplementation with tocotrienol could prevent fats and cholesterol build-up on the arterial linings. The clogging of arteries is one of the main causes of heart attacks.

Palm tocotrienols are also able to kill cancer cells especially breast cancer cells. The findings are so convincing that currently, there is a five-year human trial of 240 women in Stage one breast cancer to monitor how effectively palm tocotrienol inhibits their tumors.

The benefits of palm tocotrienols do not end here. Tocotrienols may be helpful in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases by preventing brain cells damage. In August 2002, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in USA awarded in excess of a million dollars to investigate the mechanism in which tocotrienol exerts its neuroprotective action. Professor Chandan Sen, the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Medicine at The Ohio State University Medical Center, leads the research.

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