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Articles Written by
Rehan Jalali
Nutrition Articles
Essential Fatty Acids
"Let me be up front about this: I’m
going to try to make you buy something here. It’s something that’s
good for you—and for your athletic performance —although it's an
idea that takes getting used to..."
• Nutritionists and diet gurus have been indoctrinating us about the
evils of dietary fat since the 1970s, so it’s difficult to believe
that some fats are essential for life. Apparently, the term fat is
far too simple for the complex substance it represents. Here’s why I
believe it’s in the best interest of everyone—bodybuilders and other
athletes as well as everyday folks—to consider supplementing
essential fats.
There are two essential fatty acids, or EFAs, linoleic acid and
linolenic acid. Linoleic acid is included in the category known as
omega-6 fatty acids, while linolenic acid—specifically, alpha
linolenic acid—is an omega-3 fatty acid. Another omega-6 fatty acid,
gamma linoleic acid (GLA), is also important for health and athletic
performance. Like water and vitamins and certain amino acids,
linoleic and alpha linolenic acids are required for life. If you
don’t get them from your diet, your body will deteriorate and you’ll
die.
Granted, a minimal level is required to stave off the ravages of
deficiency. It hasn’t been clearly defined, however, and there is no
USRDA (United States recommended daily allowance) for either
essential fatty acid. In the book Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill
(Alive Books, 1997), author Udo Erasmus suggests a minimum daily
intake of three to six grams of linoleic acid and one to three grams
of linolenic acid to prevent deficiency. He further suggests that
for optimum health people should take in 3 to 6 percent of their
calories as linoleic acid and 2 percent as linolenic acid. (If
you’re truly interested in fats and their effects on health, I
strongly recommend this book.)
There’s a class of “hormones” called prostaglandins in the human
body. Certain prostaglandins are beneficial for health and disease
prevention, while others are essential to the body’s reaction to
stress or injury.
Prostaglandins are derived from essential fatty acids. There are
three classes, or series, of prostaglandins. The series 1 versions,
particularly PGE1, have many beneficial effects for athletes. They
appear to have anabolic effects, promote thermogenesis, increase
sodium and water clearance by the kidneys and prevent blood clots.
Series 2 prostaglandins have the opposite effects, as they seem to
trigger the release of energy substrates by breaking down structural
protein, causing salt and water retention and promoting the clotting
of blood. Nature always maintains a balance. In a fight-or-flight
situation your body reacts to ensure your short-term survival: Your
blood pressure becomes elevated, the bleeding stops and the energy
the body needs becomes available.
One interesting fact is that both series 1 and series 2
prostaglandins are derived from the same precursor, linoleic acid
(omega-6 fatty acid), while series 3 prostaglandins are derived from
linolenic acid (omega-3 fatty acid). The series 3 prostaglandins are
important not for their actions but, rather, for their ability to
decrease the rate at which series 2 prostaglandins are formed.
So series 1 prostaglandins promote performance, series 2
prostaglandins disrupt performance, and series 3 prostaglandins
block the formation of series 2 prostaglandins. Obviously, you’d
just want to buy series 1 and series 3 prostaglandins. How wonderful
if it were that easy. Unfortunately, it’s not. You’ll probably get a
direct-mail offer to purchase East German series 1 and series 3
prostaglandins sometime soon. Don’t believe it.
Prostaglandins are not true hormones. They’re paracrine hormones or
in some cases autocrine hormones, which means they’re only active in
or near the cell where they’re generated. True hormones float all
through the body to reach distant target organs or tissues. The
downside to the local-action-only feature is that prostaglandins
aren’t orally bioavailable—unless you take them in huge amounts—and
can only be administered intravenously. The upside is that you can
take the precursors—the essential fatty acids—and give your body the
building blocks to form prostaglandins naturally and legally.
Essential fatty acids have specific chemical structures, including
fragile double bonds that are easily disturbed by heat, pressure and
even light. Oils that contain essential fatty acids are basically
liquid fatty acids and must be protected from heat, pressure and
light throughout the pressing, packaging and shipping processes.
What’s more, manufacturers must remove any extra oxygen from the
processing lines and from inside the bottle, which is usually done
by flushing the lines and bottle with nitrogen gas. To that end,
gelcaps are less air sensitive and may have more stability.
Many of us have used flaxseed oil or evening primrose oil for fat
supplementation. Flaxseed provides a high concentration of omega-3
fatty acids, while evening primrose is a good source of GLA.
Although they’re fine for correcting a deficiency or imbalance of
omega-3 or omega-6, respectively, they’re not appropriate for
long-term fatty acid supplementation. That’s a major point, and the
reason is simple: Nature created a balance for a reason, and you
should maintain it. Over the long term you should take in dietary
fatty acids in a ratio that supports nature’s balance, and the
product that will do that is hemp seed oil.
Erasmus has made the following statements regarding hemp oil: “Hemp
oil is well-balanced, with omega-3 and omega-6 in a good ratio and
contains gamma linolenic acid as well. Hemp seed oil can be used
over the long term to maintain a healthy EFA balance without leading
to either EFA deficiency or imbalance.… Hemp seed oil contains
omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids in an ideal long-term
ratio of 3-to-1.”
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