EFA

[Guest guest]

> > [...] I supplement with EFA and take very moderate exercise.

> What is EFA?

In supplement land, " EFA " usually stands for " Essential Fatty Acid " .

[Guest guest]

There was a spreadsheet posted here once by Greg , that I

believe does the calculation that you are asking about. It's not in

our files any longer, but is now available at

http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au/FattyAcids.htm

from the link labeled " Interactive Excel Oil Analysis spreadsheet " as

http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au/OilAnalysis.xls

See if this is what you are looking for. In the top part of the

spreadsheet you can re-label a specific oil and input it's

composition. The bottom part lets you put in how much of each you

are consuming, and it does a total calculation.

Iris

> Hello,

>

> I've joined the group some months ago and have enjoyed reading the

> posts. I've been seriously pursuing CHRON the past 6 months, though

> I've read Walford and have been interested in the topic for at

least 5

> years. The crucial thing that got me into the chron groove is when I

> made a conscious decision to eliminate junk sugar (as in mass

> consumption of ice cream/ desserts etc.) and other junk materials

> (refined/processed carbs, hydrogenated oils etc.). I'm down to about

> 137 - 139 lbs (from a high of 175) on a small 5' 7 " frame, and have

> been averaging from 1500 - 2000 calories per day of healthy food

based

> on CHRON principles. Other basic info about me: 49 years old,

reformed

> fat/sugar addict; I row everyday on my Concept 2 indoor rower

(minimum

> of 30 minutes), and consider myself a serious student of Iyengar

yoga

> (have a daily home practice for the last two years in addition to

> class once a week.) My sources of animal protein are: eggs, milk and

> fish. i.e, I'm a " semi-vegetarian, " if there's such a term. I've

been

> sprout-farming the past month or so, based on some of the info I got

> from the CHRON files, and I really have been getting into sprouts

as a

> staple. I don't particularly like eating fish, which kinda leads to

> the topic I need help on.

>

> I need some advice and/or comments on the topic of essential fatty

> acids. I've come across the Udo Erasmus site <www.udoerasmus.com>

and

> he basically recommends an omega 3 to omega 6 ratio of 2:1, and in

> fact his product (Udo's Choice Oil) supposedly follows this. I went

> through his site, and there's a lot of info there that seems useful

> with respect to EFAs, specially with regards " conversion ratios "

from

> plant EFA sources to longer chain omega's (e.g., typically

> fish-derived EFAs)- which BTW are still up in the air from a

research

> standpoint. I supplement my diet with ground flax seed, and have

> recently been adding ground sunflower seeds to increase n-6 (which

the

> latter supposedly is high in). Erasmus claims that ingesting flax

> alone (very high in n-3)could lead to n-6 deficiencies later on.

> Here's my query to the group:

>

> USDA <http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl>

> nutrition data for flax seed (per 100 grams) shows " 18:2

> undifferentiated " fatty acids of 4.318 g and for " 18:3

> undifferentiated " it's 18.122 g. I assume the " 18:2 " refers to the

> omega 6 and the " 18:3 " refers to omega 3? I was assuming that the

> latter refers to alpha linolenic acid. I understand that there are

> several notational systems used to describe EFA's. Basically, I need

> some help on how to accurately/correctly read the USDA lipid

> information so that I can play around with the EFA 3 to 6 ratios

when

> I incorporate seeds/nuts in my diet. Though I'm trying the Udo Oil

> supplement in the short term (as an experiment), I'd rather use the

> seed/nuts themselves in the long run. Any EFA experts in the group?

> I'd also like to hear what the group thinks about the erasmus site,

if

> you have the chance to study it.

>

> Thanks in advance,

> -marlon

[Guest guest]

Hi Marlon,

There is a software program called KIM from the NIH which is free. It's a funky little piece, but does enable you to analyze the ratio of EFA's in your diet.

Here's an awesome link for you to do some study. http://ods.od.nih.gov/eicosanoids/ If you'll click on #1 Food Choice Software, that should get you to the KIM software.

Regarding Udo's oil specifically--it's expensive, and Greg recommended off-list that I quit using it. (Speaking of Greg, the link I had for his website so longer works. Does anybody have a new link for him?) I was new at the time, and don't recall what Greg had against Udo's Oil, but now I'm curious. Unneccesary supplementation of Omega 6, perhaps??? If anyone has any wisdom to impart on this I'd be interested in hearing it. I know that many health nuts around town are really convinced that Udo's oil is manna from heaven, but I quit using it and now I don't remember why! (Maybe it was bad for my memory?)

Suz

[Guest guest]

--- In , " Suzanne Cart " <massuz@c...>

wrote:

(Speaking of Greg, the link I had for his website so longer works.

Does anybody have a new link for him?)

This is a link to The homepage:

http://optimalhealth.cia.com.au/ He also has his own Group -

something called Optimal Health, or so. I subscribed for a while, but

it did not appear to be about CR, but more about oils and fats, as I

recall. It was too boring, so I left.

Regarding the KIM program, I downloaded it several days ago. It

appears to be somewhat awkward to work with. There does not seem to

be an easy way to adjust serving sizes, and I haven't yet found an

easy way to navigate thru the various pages; clicking back and forth

doesn't really seem to work, at least not for me.