Are essential fatty acids bad for you?
Q: One of my friends said she heard essential fatty acids are bad for you. Is that true?
Dr. Wright: In the past couple of years, there have been a few studies linking one particular essential fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) to increased risk of prostate cancer and cataracts. ALA is the major fatty acid found in flaxseed and flaxseed oil. While not all of the studies on ALA agree with these findings, there is enough evidence to be cause for some concern.
However, it's important to remember that ALA is an essential-to-life fatty acid, and it's highly unlikely that Nature would require us to have it in order to survive if there was no way around these potential negative effects. It's very possible that another nutrient or several nutrients are involved in the ALA-prostate cancer and ALA-cataract connection, and that using more (or less) of these would "erase" any possible harm from higher levels of ALA.
Unfortunately, researchers rarely consider nutrients in more complex interactions. So it'll likely be a long time until this aspect of the "ALA question" is considered.
In the meantime, this does not mean that you need to eliminate flaxseed and flaxseed oil from your diet! In addition to ALA there are many other healthful nutrients present, especially in whole flaxseed. However, if you're a "flaxseed fan," it's probably wisest to consult your nutritionally knowledgeable physician about what quantity of flaxseed or flaxseed oil might be best for you. And since too much ALA can suppress "5-alpha- reductase" (see the September issue of Nutrition & Healing -- available free to subscribers on www.wrightnewsletter.com -- for details about this enzyme), if you're a man, you might want to have your "5-alpha reductase" enzyme activity measured. This is easily done from a 24-hour urinary steroid test.
Some physicians may also recommend a red blood cell membrane essential fatty acid test (preferable to the serum test of essential fatty acids) to make sure your ALA levels aren't out of balance with other fatty acids.
Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. has degrees from both Harvard University (cum laude) and the University of Michigan. More than any other doctor, he practically invented the modern science of applied nutritional biochemistry and he has advanced nutritional medicine for nearly three decades.
As of today, Dr. Wright has received over 35,000 patient visits at his now-famous Tahoma Clinic in Washington State.
To learn more about Dr. Wright, and to sign up for his free Health e-Tips eLetter, please visit www.wrightnewsletter.com.
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Comments
jam427
I believe the main concern is going overboard with supplements, just as today guidelines some of these recommendations are not enough, some of these supplements in most occasions are not absorbed well by our system, we need to find what our system is in lack of and then supplement, many believe that just because it is natural is not harmful but the opposite is true our system requires a well balance with a minor +/- any thing beyond that there will be a rejection, I’m sure ALA has its purpose, just as CLA which is essential and we do not get enough from some of our beef which are not pasture fed, some of these Mambo Jumbo studies have no logic whatsoever, simplicity is a perfect solution as Mother Nature is, you do this and you get a reward, as for example trees absorb all the bad staff and rewards us with oxygen, it is a very easy process and we should employ more of this, and always be on the lookout for Big-Pharma and their cronies trying to discredit Mother Nature. JAM
Anonymous
It is my understanding that supplements are ineffective because they lose their potency when converted into a tablet, capsule or pill form. In this form they are in effect dead. Is this true?
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