THE SKINNY ON FAT PART THREE.
We left off talking about the dangers of TFA, and before that the dangers of omega 6 PUFA. That leaves us with just a few odds and end to clean up in our kitchen and medicine cabinet. Let’s start with cod liver oil a popular beverage for some who might think it’s good for them.
Cod liver oil (CLO)
I’ve always asked myself why take CLO when you can take fish oil? CLO is nowhere near as purified as pharmaceutical grade fish oil. As such it may be a source of industrial contamination. Furthermore, not only is it low in EPA and DHA, which is presumably why people take this supplement, but it has been shown that chronic ingestion of some cod liver oil preparations can be toxic to your liver. Some of the products tested are positively brimming with vitamin A. The extraordinarily high content seems to be the problem. Some preparations tested contained as high as 30,000 IU per tablespoon. This can cause elevated liver enzymes and hepatic damage in a syndrome referred to as hypervitaminosis A.Years ago a team of scientists released a statement warning physicians to be aware of a new disease that seems to be on the rise in patients, otherwise healthy, that present with elevated liver enzymes with no known cause. They suggested the clinician investigate the taking of cod liver oil supplements as a possible etiology. However, it gets worse.
Activated vitamin D and vitamin A signal through common cofactors but compete for each other’s functions. Therefore it’s at cross purposes to take vitamin A with vitamin D which will tend to antagonize the effects of vitamin D. One study found that high retinol (vitamin A) intake completely thwarted vitamin D’s otherwise protective effect on distal colorectal adenoma (cancer).[1] In addition, the consumption of vitamin A as retinol in the doses commonly seen when taking CLO may cause bone toxicity in those with low vitamin D levels;[2] and those with the highest vitamin A intake had higher rates of hip fracture. CLO preparations have very high retinol concentrations yet contain tiny amounts of vitamin D which renders the vitamin D useless, and it can lead to higher rates of respiratory tract infections. In the Cochrane Review they found vitamin A supplements increased mortality rates by 16% perhaps by antagonizing vitamin D.[3]
In other words, and lamentably, CLO is not a super health food even if folk lore nutritionists tell you that it is. Furthermore, as Dr Cannell (VITAMIN D COUNCIL) reminds us over and over, there is never a reason to take preformed vitamin A because of its toxicity. Our bodies have evolved an elaborate mechanism for converting non-toxic carotenoids into vitamin A only as needed. Dump the CLO before it dumps you.
Deep fried foods and ghee (commercially prepared)
Are rich sources of oxycholesterols (as well as TFA) which are oxidized cholesterol molecules. These are no different from the oxLDL we are frantically trying to avoid forming in our bodies. Why eat more of them if you don’t have to? According to Dr Kilmer McCully, the Harvard Medical professor and discoverer of the homocysteine-heart disease connection and author of The Homocysteine Revolution, these are some of the worst foods that you can eat. These lethiferous substances are highly inflammatory to vascular endothelium and other regions of the body. They should be avoided. As powerful free radical generators they can do nothing but harm us.
Plenty of people have asked me if the Ghee they make at home is safe. It is if you prepare it on low heat, and be sure to use organic or pastured butter.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS.
Did you know that we have a bodily requirement for certain fats that we must obtain from the environment? We cannot make these fats on our own. Therefore, by definition, essential fatty acids or EFA’s as they are called, are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) that we cannot make yet are critical for the healthy functioning of every cell in the body. Like other essential molecules such as several amino acids, vitamins and minerals, but not carbohydrate mind you, the body must obtain them from the environment in the foods we eat. EFA’s therefore are a requirement for the maintenance of good health.
There are 2 families of EFA’s which you have been introduced to already. The omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (FA). The body cannot produce alpha linolenic acid (ALA Ω3PUFA-throughout this book I will interchangeably use either omega or the symbol Ω, PUFA or FA), the body also cannot make linoleic acid (LA Ω6PUFA). We depend on the environment-our food supply-to provide us with these FA’s. The longer chain derivatives of EFA’s regulate cell processes and produce eicosanoids (a family of hormone-like substances that control virtually every process in the body) to optimize health.
EFA Families
Omega-3:
- Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA)
- Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)
- Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)
Omega-6:
- Linoleic Acid (LA)
- Arachidonic Acid (AA)
- Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA)
Americans consume significant quantities of fat but, as I have shown in the Marbling of Mankind (book chapter on the reasons we are fat), the greatest increase in fat consumption is of the Ω6PUFA’s at the expense of Ω3PUFA’s. Saturated fat consumption has stayed relatively steady over the decades. Depending on the source you read Paleolithic man ate foods in a ratio of Ω6:Ω3 of anywhere from 1:1 (Dr. Artemis Simopolis) to others stating up to 4:1 but no higher than that. Unfortunately the average Industrial Diner sitting on his stool at the counter, plumber’s crack and all, eating Industrial Dinners (highly processed chow) eats more in the ratio of 20:1 or even 40:1 or higher!
This is very dangerous. Omega 6 PUFA’s, although several are essential, will cause disease if in excess because they generate arachidonic acid (AA) which, as you will see, provides the substrate for all of the evil eicosanoids and prostaglandins which contribute to pain, inflammation and disease. The simple elimination of the omega 6 FA’s accounted for nearly all of the benefits seen in the Lyon Heart Study. In fact, all of the benefits of a fat-free Dean Ornish cardboard kitchen approach are accomplished in my Super Mediterranean Diet by avoiding omega 6 PUFA, not saturated fat, but without the trauma of eating fat free spackle cakes. I’ll explain below how this is possible but first let’s discuss some preliminaries on what it means to be well and what types of inflammation the Industrial Diner suffers from.
WHAT IS WELLNESS?
Dr Chris, it’s not just the absence of disease is it? Correct Tammy there are countless people walking around right now that aren’t sick with a definable illness but they are not well either. They are in a grey region of silent inflammation, a sort of twilight zone between overt health and definable illness. This is where major, deadly, diseases incubate and wait, like the diminutive saber-toothed shrew in her lair, or her deadly cousin the Vorpal Bunny, for the proper time to strike and deglove arms and legs. Often times it takes decades of inflammatory living before they strike you down. Wellness is the lack of silent inflammation as I will demonstrate.
But first we should open a discussion on inflammation so that we can all talk the same language and understand why inflammation is so tragic. Look for a separate blog to follow this one where I’ll walk you through the pathophysiology of inflammation, why it’s deadly and why you need to know everything about it. After all I would not have titled my book InflaNATION if it weren’t important.
Stay tuned gentle reader………
[1] John Cannell MD, Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology 117(11):864-870.
[2] IBID p. 3
[3] IBID p. 3
Category: Fat, PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
