Posted by Larry Hoover on March 25, 2005, at 16:30:11
In reply to Re: omega-6 fat intake massively correlated to violenc » Larry Hoover, posted by tealady on March 23, 2005, at 13:42:27
> hmm.. a comparison of Australia in 1962 with the US in 1990's regarding suicide..and then compare with linoleic intake in perhaps typical diets?
> Guess ya don't want my opinion on that one :-))I doubt the only data point for Australia was one for 1962....it just happened to be the lowest in the entire dataset.
> Also "correlations between greater linoleic acid disappearance and homicide mortality over time were significant in linear regression models" does not make that much sense to me...mayvbe its too early in the day and I need some caffeine though
Linear regression is the development of a straight line plot of the data, with the line defined in the form y = ax + b. Usually, this is done by the least squares method. Then, an estimate of how well the straight line predicts the actual data, called the correlation coefficient, is calculated. In this case r is very nearly unity. If you square the correlation coefficient, you get the percentage by which the independent variable is thought to directly contribute to the measured variable. In this case, we are considering linoleic acid as a predictor of homicide mortality. R was found to be 0.94, and r² is then 0.88, i.e. 88% of the homicide rate is attributable to linoleic acid intake, and with a very low likelihood (the P value is tiny) that this is a chance finding. That is astonishing, IMHO. It could be a statistical fluke, but it probably is not one. It certainly deserves further study.
> Are they trying to do a grain percentage of diet comparison or just stating more fats in diet ..or maybe just more grains?? (there are, I think, linoleic acids in omega 3's and omega 9's too , and ALA's and CLA's as well.. so for me that is pretty confusing http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2603/is_0004/ai_2603000490 scroll down page)
I'm sorry you're confused by all this.
Linoleic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid, with two desaturation points. It is represented as 18:2, as it is eighteen carbons long.
I don't know what you're trying to say about the omega-3's and omega-9's.
Other eighteen carbon fatty acids are oleic acid (18:1 omega-9), alpha-linolenic acid (18:3, omega-3), and gamma-linolenic acid (18:3, omega-6). There are also a number of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), which are actually fermentation products from the rumen-based digestion of foods containing linoleic acid. They are all 18:2, but they can be cis and trans. And other rare fatty acids are also eighteen carbons long.
Meat actually contains very little linoleic acid. The dominant fatty acid in all meats is oleic acid, the same healthy omega-9 that is found in olive oil. The problem is grain oils, the vegetable oils that are produced in todays industrial food systems. They contain massive amounts of linoleic acid. They range from 26% in canola oil, to 51% in soya, 52% in corn, up to 75% in safflower oil. These are sources for this unprecendented increase in linoleic acid content. (Unprecedented from an historical/evolutionary perspective.)
> anyway..assuming they are trying to say more omega6 grain based diet and violence..what about tradtional societies..IMO fairly violent, or the middle ages or even a couple of centuries ago? My understanding is they were more violent than now..but perhaps I don't have an accurate picture ..I wasn't there after all.
The intake of linoleic acid is today 10,000 times what it was 100 years ago. That is not to say that violence cannot exist absent linoleic acid. But, in recent times, this seems to be the pattern.
> Australia in early 60's was probably one of the least "violent" societies they could pick for a comparison (anything wpuld be les violent.... Why not pick some other year or country:-)They looked at other years and other countries. Perhaps you missed that, when reading the abstract?
> Do you like Gilbert and Sullivan..Pirates of Penzance..modern major general? http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.htmlEh?
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:474544
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050323/msgs/475512.html