Tag Archive for: ALA

Functional Essential Fatty Acids

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Understanding that linoleic acid is the essential omega-6 fatty acid and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the essential omega-3 fatty acid, the logical question would be what about fish oil and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids? It’s just a little complicated, but let me explain.

It’s true that in humans, we can use ALA to make EPA and DHA. The problem is that it isn’t a dominant biochemical pathway. That’s why the phrase “functional essential fatty acids” are used to describe EPA and DHA. Another way of saying it is that to function at optimal levels, we should get DHA and EPA from either food sources or from dietary supplements every day.

DHA is critical to brain and eye health while EPA has anti-inflammatory properties. The best sources of EPA and DHA would be seafood. For vegetarians, there are some products available that contain these functional fatty acids derived from algae; it’s only a matter of time before the more easily reproducible sources like algae and seaweed replace fish as the primary source found in supplements.

Seed Oils

I’ve written about seed oils several times. I do not disagree that we overconsume seed oils, but most are found in ultra-processed foods; that’s why we end up with the disproportion of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids eaten in our society as a whole. There’s no problem lowering the amount of intake of omega-6s. If you want to use oils in cooking, safflower, sunflower, corn, and soybean oil have the best omega-6 profile; you can certainly find non-bioengineered and organically grown sources of those oils if you want. If you’re going to get oils from food, you might as use the sources with the highest amount of linoleic acid per serving.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Linus Pauling Institute. Essential Fatty Acids
2. J Lipid Res 2014 DOI 10.1194/jlr.R055095

Essential Fatty Acids

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There are always controversies in nutrition. With all that’s been written about seed oils and sources of omega-3 fatty acids, I thought we’d go back to the basics this week—back to what are the essential fatty acids, seen above floating in the bloodstream. Similar to essential amino acids, essential fatty acids are the fats that we cannot make ourselves; therefore, they must be obtained from the foods that we eat. We can make plenty of saturated fats from carbohydrates and even proteins, but we can’t make the two essential fatty acids (FA).

The two essential fatty acids are the omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid (LA) and the omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). With those as a base, other fatty acids can be made that have a variety of important functions in the body; the most important function is making cell membranes. If you have adequate amounts of these essential fatty acids, it simply means your cells will work better. The sources for these oils are all plant based: seeds, nuts, and oils from those foods.

Men need about 17 grams of ALA per day while women need about 11. Women need about 1.1 grams of LA per day while men need 1.6 grams per day. That seems like such small amounts when you consider that works out to fewer than 150 calories for women and 200 calories for men, using oils as the primary source.

What about the omega-3s we hear about all the time like EPA and DHA? I’ll get into those on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Linus Pauling Institute. Essential Fatty Acids
2. J Lipid Res 2014 DOI 10.1194/jlr.R055095

The Supplementation Sweet Spot, Part Two

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We’ve got the beginning of our sweet spot for supplementation started with a multivitamin-multimineral and probiotics; today I’ll finish it up with two more—depending.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Recommendations on the type of omega-3s seem to be in flux with disagreements over docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The cause for concern seems to be the potential relationship between DHA and atrial fibrillation. I’m still not satisfied as to the relevancy of the risk in the general population with one exception: those people who’ve had myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) that resulted in the loss of heart muscle. For now, those people may want to be cautious. My research continues and when I have an answer, so will you.

Unless you regularly eat servings of cold-water fish two or three times a week, part of your foundation supplementation should be 1–3 grams of EPA, DHA, or the plant-sourced alpha linoleic acid (ALA), or a combination of all three. You can pick any body system, and omega-3s are most likely beneficial. This is especially true of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Vitamin D

The final foundation supplement that makes up our sweet spot is vitamin D but with a catch. Instead of taking massive amounts of vitamin D, the best way to determine whether you need to supplement with vitamin D is to get your blood levels checked via a 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) blood test. If you’re low in vitamin D, below 30 ng/mL, add more vitamin D to your supplements in 50 mcg (2,000 IU) increments until your blood level reaches 40–60 ng/mL. Obviously, you need to see your doctor for the test, but you should be seeing your doctor regularly anyway.

Depending on where you live, sunlight will help you maintain healthy vitamin D levels with about 15 minutes exposure per day. However, in Northern areas such as here in Grand Rapids, that only happens about half the year, so we make sure to take our vitamin D supplement and bump it up a little in winter.

More

Vitamin D has become controversial with the current COVID-19 outbreak. Vitamin D will not prevent you from catching COVID-19; it will help reduce the severity of symptoms. But megadosing on vitamin D can have consequences that can result in bone loss. That’s why basing your intake on a blood test is the right way to go.

The Bottom Line

There you have the sweet spot for foundation supplements that all of us need, regardless of the quality of our diet. What about all those other supplements out there? Fine tuning supplementation to meet your personal needs is where supplements get complicated and need to be personalized. With the billions of dollars spent on supplements every year, if everyone began with the sweet spot of foundation nutrients, everyone would be better off, just like the sweet spots for diet and exercise.

If you want to know more about the science behind these supplements as well as how to assess a quality manufacturer, get a digital copy of Supplementing Your Diet; if you want to pass along the information to others, get a 5-pack of CDs at reduced prices. They’re all on sale at 25% off, and that’s in addition to Member and Insider discounts. You can also find info on supplementation for other conditions such as high blood pressure, pregnancy, migraines, weight loss, and more at the Store at drchet.com.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

What You Need to Know About Omega-3s

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This week I’m covering basic information about three supplements.  One of my favorites and one I don’t ever leave home without is omega-3 fatty acids.

There are three basic forms of omega-3 fatty acids: eicosapentanoic acid or EPA, docosahexaenoic acid or DHA, and alpha-linolenic acid or ALA. The body cannot make omega-3 fatty acids, so they have to come from food and supplements. ALA is an essential fatty acid—the body can make EPA and DHA from it but not very well—so getting EPA and DHA from diet and supplements is critical.

EPA . . .

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