Response re Flaxseed

[Guest guest]

You may be interested in this reply I got after asking a question of

the Flaxseed Council.

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Dear Gay,

Your question was referred to me by the Flax Council of Canada. I

write articles about the health benefits of flax for the Council.

You ask an excellent question. My answer, which some people might

say is biased, since I am knowledgeable about flax and help educate

consumers and researchers about it, is that, Yes, there are good

reasons to eat flax for its omega-3 fat content. As you may know,

the specific omega-3 fat in flax is ALA. ALA is the parent compound

of the omega-3 family. Here are some things to consider where ALA

and human health is concerned --

1. ALA is the only true " essential " omega-3 fatty acid. When I

say " essential, " I am speaking in the strictest sense of the word.

In other words, ALA is essential in the diet because our bodies do

not make it. In this sense, ALA is no different from vitamin C,

folic acid, calcium, potassium, niacin, and all the

other " essential " vitamins and minerals. It is required in the

human diet because our bodies can't make it.

2. But, as you ask, if you get plenty of EPA and DHA, which can be

made from ALA, is there any reason to still eat foods rich in ALA?

I say, Yes, there is. The relationship of ALA to EPA and DHA is

much like that of beta-carotene to vitamin A. When I was in

graduate school back in the dark ages (the late 1970's and early

1980's), I was taught that beta-carotene was a precursor of vitamin

A and that was virtually it's only function. It was important in

the diet because of its role as a vitamin A precursor. Not until

the 1990's was there research to show that beta-carotene has unique

benefits of its own. We know now that it is an antioxidant, which

means it plays an important role in preventing chronic disease.

3. ALA stands now at the point where beta-carotene stood 25 years

ago. Many researchers believe the only use for ALA is as a

precursor of EPA and DHA. However, until the 1990's, there wasn't

much research on ALA. Virtually all of the omega-3 research

conducted over the past 40 years was done on EPA and DHA -- and much

of that was funded by the fish oil supplement industry.

4. Does ALA have any unique benefits -- that is, does ALA have

health effects that are separate from those of EPA and DHA? Yes, it

does. Several clinical studies suggest that ALA plays a unique role

to play in preventing heart disease. In addition, new research

proposes a unique role for ALA in the health of the prostate. For

example, the prostate appears to need a rich supply of DHA in

particular for normal function. It was long thought that diet was

the source of this DHA. New research suggests otherwise -- dietary

ALA is the source of DHA for the prostate gland. Dietary DHA, which

circulates in the blood stream, is not picked up by the prostate.

Rather, the prostate picks up dietary ALA and converts it to DHA.

So, here we have an essential nutrient -- ALA -- which has not been

studied very much and whose unique functions are not fully known. I

believe research over the next decade will show that ALA has

specific functions, in addition to the recent research related to

heart disease and the health of the prostate gland -- and that its

role in human health is just as important as the roles of EPA and

DHA.

The bottom line is that ALL omega-3 fats are important for human

health, and North Americans, in particular, will benefit from eating

more ALA, EPA, DHA, DPA and stearidonic acid from plants, fish and

omega-3-enriched foods like eggs and other novel foods!

Best wishes,

Diane

Diane H. , PhD

Nutritionist

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Flaxseed debate

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 08:37:45 +0100

From: Gay

<flax@...>

Hi

I wonder if you could answer a theoretical question for me.

Several of us on the hypertension board take flaxseed. I myself

find it lowers my cholesterol. This made me interested enough to

read up on EFA's, LNA etc.

My question is this:

Even if one took a lot of fish/supplements and therefore for a lot

of Omega-3 via EPA/DHA, would there still be a case for taking

Flaxseed?

I will still be taking my flaxseed but I would like to be able to

advise the others with confidence, that flaxseed is still a good

idea even if they have a lot of fish in their diet or take a fish

oil supplement.

Can you help?

Best wishes, Gay