Posted by banga on March 26, 2005, at 11:12:38
In reply to Not all Omega-3s are created equal, posted by itsme2003 on March 23, 2005, at 2:17:51
> Keep in mind that there are two important items about a particular fatty acid. The position of the first double bond (the omega) and the chain length. The body can shorten the chains fairly easily, but has a lot of difficulty making the chain longer. Thus you can't really take flax oil (a shorter chain omega-3) and expect to get the benefits that you would get from fish oil (a longer chain omega-3).
>
> I have read that the standard American diet is deficient in Gamma Linolenic Aid (GLA) which is an omega-6 fatty acid. Thus a person could be in a position of ingesting way too much omega-6 fatty acid, yet not get enough of one particular omega-6 fatty acid.
>
> I agree that the average person has no deficiency of omega-9 fatty acids. These come along naturally in all of the named ingredients in this oil. Besides from a marketing perspective, omega 3-6-9 oil probably sounds better than omega 3-6 oil.
SO GLA is only one of several types of omega-6? That might explain a contradition in my mind...I had read a deficiency of GLA can lead to derpession, yet our diets are supposedly replete with omega 6...
So do we help by adding GLA, or do we upset the balance still further? What is the solution---add both GLA, and even more omega 3s (fish oil, I did know flax oil is different...)
And while on this subject, I know some theorize that people may have difficulty converting EPA to DHA....or was it the other way around? Do you know about this?
poster:banga
thread:445077
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050323/msgs/475779.html