This information on essential fatty acids is intended for your help in understanding the role of cod liver oil and flax seed oil on your health. And to tell you why butter is much better for you than margarine and other trans fats..
Some fats are unnecessary, some are essential
Section titled “Some fats are unnecessary, some are essential”From our body's point of view, fats in our diet fall into two categories, those that we require and those that we don't. The fats we require are called the essential fatty acids and they are necessary for proper functioning of our immune system, for proper functioning of our brain, and indeed for proper functioning of the whole system.
How fats differ
Section titled “How fats differ”Fats are chains of carbon atoms of various lengths. These chains have hydrogen atoms attached, and depending upon how many hydrogen atoms are attached, are called saturated or unsaturated fats. Our body can make saturated fats up to 18 carbon atoms long from whatever food we eat. For our body to function properly, however, we need some fatty acids as long as 22 carbons. So we need in our diet the raw materials for these longer fatty acids. These raw materials are two unsaturated fatty acids (meaning a few hydrogen atoms have been removed) called alpha-linoleic and linoleic acid. These are then lengthened up to twenty-two carbons long and modified in various ways to make substances that are required for the immune system, for the nervous system, and for regulation of inflammatory processes.
How acid is a fatty acid?
Section titled “How acid is a fatty acid?”From the chemical point of view these are acids, but as you may know from your own experience with vegetable oils, all of which contain fatty acids, they don't corrode like the acids you think of.
What are prostaglandins?
Section titled “What are prostaglandins?”A hormone is a substance that is produced in one place in the body and then exerts its influence all over the body. Thyroid hormone, for example, is made in the thyroid gland (in the neck), and is carried by the blood all over the body to regulate metabolism. A prostaglandin is a special kind of hormone that is created at a particular point in the body and has an effect only in that particular area. For example, if you twist your finger and irritate the joint, prostaglandins are produced in that joint to cause an inflammatory response limited to that joint. Unlike cortisone or thyroid hormone or growth hormone, these prostaglandins can only act in the immediate area where they are produced.
Prostaglandins govern childbirth, protect the stomach from stomach acid, and help protect us from infectious agents. They have been found in every tissue in the body and are involved with arthritis, asthma, the clotting that leads to stroke and heart attack, the function of the kidneys, and many other functions.
By the numbers
Section titled “By the numbers”The three classes of prostaglandins are numbered.
| series number | foods containing fatty acids that can be made into this series | effect on inflammation (such as arthritis) |
| 1 | vegetable oils | Decrease inflammation |
| 2 | beef | Increase inflammation |
| 3 | fish oils | Decrease inflammation |
Why is the kind of fat we eat important?
Section titled “Why is the kind of fat we eat important?”Meat is rich in a twenty carbon fatty acid called arachidonic acid. This is the raw material for the inflammatory series two prostaglandins. These make blood platelets more sticky and likely to adhere together. The result can be a blood clot leading to a stroke or a heart attack. Cold water fish, rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (another twenty carbon fatty acid with less hydrogen atoms attached to it), is fuel for the production of the antiinflammatory series three prostaglandins. Lancet (1989;2;757) reported that patients who ate fatty fish had almost a thirty percent reduction in deaths over two years compared to those who were not so advised. This is because the eicosopentaenoic acid in the fish increased the production of series three prostaglandins and thus tilted the balance in the direction of less "sticky" platelets and less inflammation in the cardiovascular system.
As you know, eating a piece of beef won't cause an immediate stroke or heart attack. But the kinds of food we eat do tend to tip the balance one way or the other.
So much for the series two and three prostaglandins from beef and cold water fish. The series one prostaglandins are beneficial substances for which we require linoleic acid. This is an eighteen carbon fatty acid that we must obtain from our diet. This is present in vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, safflower oil and flax seed oil.
There is an important enzyme in our system that changes linoleic acid into another eighteen carbon acid called gamma-linolenic acid and thence into the beneficial series one prostaglandins. This enzyme is inhibited by aging, by excessive alcohol use, by diabetes, by aspirin and by margarine. This is why the American Journal Of Cardiology (1993:71;916) reported that those who consume margarine are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. This is why government agencies are beginning to ban "trans" fats. The margarine inhibits the production of gamma-linolenic acid and therefore the production of prostaglandin series one, and therefore it tilts the balance somewhat more in the direction of "sticky" platelets and greater inflammation in the vascular system.
Arthritis and other inflammatory conditions
Section titled “Arthritis and other inflammatory conditions”Our immune system walks a delicate balance between being too sensitive and being not sensitive enough. If the system is relatively insensitive, we are prone to more frequent infections, and in the worst case, diseases such as AIDS. If the immune system is over-reactive, we can develop allergies and various inflammatory conditions such as painful osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, psoriasis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and many more.
So, throughout the whole body, in this sensitive balance between over-action and under-action, the kinds of prostaglandins produced in our tissues are important. If we twist our knee, then the tissues in the joint will produce more of the series two prostaglandins and leukotrienes (another inflammatory substance). This is part of the knee's healing response. Given an abundance of all nutrients, a little later our knee can turn off this production of series two, and can increase the production of the antiinflammatory series one and three prostaglandins. And the swelling and pain disappear.
When we are young, our body is awash in nutrients. Responding correctly to a knee problem is easy. After years of processed food, synthetic food, deep fried foods, eating on the run, and all those things which we ought not to do, we might be a little short in either gamma-linolenic acid or eicosopentaenoic acid. And then our system has a little more trouble making the antiinflammatory prostaglandins it needs to turn off the inflammatory process. This is why there is some evidence that supplementation with essential fatty acids can alter the prostaglandin balance to a more healthful pattern in people with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Aspirin and aspirin-like drugs work by interfering with the production of series two prostaglandins from arachidonic acid. Corticosteroids interfere with the production of arachidonic acid itself (which we manufacture from gamma-linolenic acid if we don't get it from beef).
The series two prostaglandins also set off free-radical producing reactions that in the proper time and place can have a positive role, but too often can result in damage to the cardiovascular system. Because free radicals play such an important role in cancer as well as in other illnesses, it is not surprising to find that certain essential fatty acids can inhibit cancer in tissue culture. Vegetarians are less likely to develop cancer and survive better if they do get it. The kinds of fat we eat influence our health!
Specific sources of essential fatty acids include
- Cod liver oil
- flax seed oil
- evening primrose oil
Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill
Section titled “Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill”Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill by Udo Erasmus will tell most people all they need to know about essential (and non-essential) fats and oils. You will find it easy to read and understand as it has many illustrations and assumes you do not have a background in chemistry. Interestingly, I do have a background (and foreground) in chemistry and I learned a great deal from almost every page of this book. The author's advice is easy to follow and should all your questions about fats and health.