Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids: why they are toxic at current average intakes
Myth-information is information which is widely held to be true but which is in fact flawed or unsubstantiated.
In a 1962 commencement address at Yale University, the late John F. Kennedy said, “The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
Arguably, the most health-damaging myth of this modern era is the idea that saturated fats are a health hazard. Here is the narrative: “High intake of dietary saturated fatty acids has been associated with obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in humans. Some of the basis for this association has been attributed to the ability of saturated fatty acids to promote inflammation and insulin resistance, as well as to increase adipose accumulation and risk of obesity.” (Excerpt from pages 5-6 of a 2019 Master’s Thesis entitled Broiler chicken development: from genetic regulation to rural Rwandan production)
Nothing in the above anti-saturated fat narrative is true. Google - Perspective: The Saturated Fat–Unsaturated Oil Dilemma to learn why.
Ironically, on pages 7-9 of the Master’s Thesis the author explains how and why high linoleic acid intake causes both chickens and humans to accumulate belly fat.
So, what is linoleic acid? Excerpt from a 2016 BMJ article entitled The importance of a balanced ω-6 to ω-3 ratio in the prevention and management of obesity. “We now know that major changes have taken place in the food supply over the last 100 years, when food technology and modern agriculture led to enormous production of vegetable oils high in ω-6 fatty acids, and changed animal feeds from grass to grains, thus increasing the amount of ω-6 fatty acids at the level of linoleic acid (LA) (from oils) and arachidonic acid (AA) (from meat, eggs, dairy). This led to very high amounts of ω-6 fatty acids in the food supply for the first time in the history of human beings.”
Linoleic acid, an 18-carbon chain omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, is converted to 20-carbon chain arachidonic acid in a rate-regulated manner. For example, a vegan diet will furnish about 80 milligrams of arachidonic acid on a daily basis no matter how much linoleic acid is consumed. This is enough to meet requirements for metabolic stability. Consuming animal products adds additional arachidonic acid to whatever is already circulating in the bloodstream.
What is arachidonic acid used for? “Arachidonic acid (AA) is a vital cell membrane constituent that is a component of stress recognition, signal transduction, hormone regulation and gene regulation. Through its myriad actions and ubiquitous presence in cells, AA can be argued to affect every cell of the body.”
The above is an excerpt from a 1996 symposium entitled Biological Effects of Dietary Arachidonic Acid. On page 2 of the Symposium Introduction it says, “Excessive signaling of AA metabolites has been associated with various chronic degenerative or autoimmune diseases, and intervention with the metabolism of AA is widely employed therapeutically in these afflictions. In essence, AA is the most biologically active unsaturated fatty acid in higher animals. Its concentration in membranes and its magnitude of effects depend on its amount, or that of its precursors and analogues, in the diet. The tendency of the field of nutrition to ignore the role of dietary AA will optimistically be reversed in the future.”
To this day, the field of nutrition continues to ignore arachidonic acid research. Why? Because medical research is all about treating symptoms, not preventing causes as hinted at in the previous paragraph. To prevent causes one needs to be aware of how excessive linoleic and arachidonic acid intakes affect the endocannabinoid system. Excerpt from an article entitled Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids: Endocannabinoids, genetics and obesity.
"Experimental and clinical intervention studies suggest that omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids have opposing physiological and metabolic properties and elicit divergent effects on body fat gain through mechanisms of adipogenesis, browning of adipose tissue, lipid homeostasis, systemic inflammation and an increase in the tone of the endocannabinoid system. Overweight and obese individuals have higher levels of the arachidonic acid (AA) derived endocannabinoid N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and an altered pattern of receptor expression. Since endocannabinoids are products of dietary fats, modification of the omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid intake modulates the endocannabinoids, with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) displacing AA from cell membranes, reducing AEA and 2-AG production, resulting in decrease in appetite and food intake leading to weight loss."
Only a handful of scientists in the World realize that the food supply is defective. Norwegian animal scientists offer this solution. “It is shown how an unnaturally high omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid concentration ratio in meat, offal and eggs (because the omega-6/omega-3 ratio of the animal diet is unnaturally high) directly leads to exacerbation of pain conditions, cardiovascular disease and probably most cancers. It should be technologically easy and fairly inexpensive to produce poultry and pork meat with much more long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and less arachidonic acid than now, at the same time as they could also have a similar selenium concentration as is common in marine fish. The health economic benefits of such products for society as a whole must be expected vastly to outweigh the direct costs for the farming sector.”
Google - Anna Haug animal products
Practical application: To normalize cell signaling requires a reduction in linoleic acid and/or arachidonic acid intake. That suggests experiment with decreased meat intake, especially pork and poultry. All animal products contain arachidonic acid. Dairy and meat from ruminants contains proportionately less of the omega-6s due to biohydrogenation of linoleic acid to saturated fatty acids in the rumen.
If you found this information helpful, feel free to contact me with questions. The feedback will be much appreciated.
Dave Brown
1925 Belmar Dr.
Kalispell, MT
davebnep@yahoo.com
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