Posted by torrid on August 7, 2011, at 16:39:42
In reply to Re: Omegabrite - Fish oil - EPA only » torrid, posted by larryhoover on August 7, 2011, at 11:33:07
> > I agree about the epa ratio. I eat walnuts and flax seed in aboundance, I believe they are ALA fats, that's omega 6 or omega 9 I think, I believe the body can convert ALA into omega 3. I'd love it if someone could explan it to me so I can better understand it. I think the ratio of omega 3's to 6's and 9's are important too.
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> I think there's a lot of confusion around ALA because its name is easily confused with an omega-6 fatty acid. In fact, I generally use ALNA when referring to alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3), rather than alpha-linoleic acid (omega-6). Note the missing n in the second name.
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> But those names are called trivial names by chemists. In geek-speak, the fatty acids are uniquely identified, every time. I'm going to use semi-geek-speak here.
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> ALNA is octadecatrienoic acid. Octadeca is greek for 18, and it has three unsaturated bonds (trienoic). It is a possible raw material for EPA, and in turn, DHA. Those fatty acids don't have trivial names. We only use the semi-geek-speak names: eicosa (20) pentaenoic (five unsaturated bonds) acid; and, docosa (22) hexaenoic (six unsaturated bonds) acid.
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> The 18, 20, and 22 refer to the length of the fatty acid, in the number of carbons in the backbone. Each of these fatty acids is a polyunsaturate (multiple unsaturated bonds between the carbons), and all are omega-3 fats. That means that the unsaturated bond furthest from the acid end of the fatty acid is in the 3rd position from the tail end. A shorthand way of saying omega 3 is n-3. And a shorthand for the 3 fatty acids mentioned here is 18:3 n-3 for ALNA, 20:5 n-3 for EPA, and 22:6 n-3 for DHA.
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> Converting 18:3 to 20:5 is a 3-step process. It must be once desaturated (now 18:4), then elongated (always in pairs, now 20:4), and then desaturated once more, yielding 20:5. And there are two steps more, required to get to 22:6.
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> The problem is that 2 of the enzymes required for this process are very inefficient. Moreover, omega-6 fats also use these same enzymes, and we all get far too much omega-6 fats in our diets, via vegetable oils. I read a paper a few years ago that used radio-tracer alpha-linolenic acid in some peoples' diets. They could detect the amount of the EPA and DHA came from the radioactive raw material, and only 1% of the EPA could be traced to alpha-linolenic acid, and none at all of the DHA.
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> Most terrestrial vegetables have virtually no EPA or DHA, but some marine vegetables and micro-algae produce these fats. Fish bioaccumulate these fats, with the highest concentrations found in the higher level predators (generally). Exceptions would be sardines and herring.
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> Vegetarians typically have half the EPA/DHA circulating in their bodies than do omnivores. It's a real challenge to get enough, or to optimize your internal conversions. I'll provide a link to an article on the subject, but I'd like to comment that I think their conversion numbers are cherry-picked from studies that have not been replicated by other researchers; I believe actual conversion rates are much lower than what is quoted here.
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> http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/020810p22.shtml
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> LarI can deal with omega-3 and omega-6 but I'm to dislexic to see the difference in the alfa linolentic acids. I lack word recognition and spelling is a mistry to me.
I'm trying to increase my intake of EPA, walnuts and flax seeds, are they -3's or 6's?
I'm usung cold pressed grape seed oil for salid and a lesser quality grape seed oil for cooking, am I on track?
I'm thinking of adding watercress to my diet of raw vegtables, heard something on TV about watercress' health benifits
Glad to hear you experienced non tourist Rome, did you drink the wine in Itially. I'm use to home made wine made by my 3rd generation italian family and it's so good, I wonder what wine is like in Italy.
poster:torrid
thread:992279
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20110512/msgs/993095.html