There has been lots of talk about people needing minimal amounts of EPA/DHA to get by in good health, but this is not necessarily the case. Some people do need more of these fats, and in a high stress modern age it is advised we up our intake of long chain omega 3’s to combat stress.

First l will start with a conclusion that was stated a little while back:

It is apparent from the scientific literature that raising omega-3 intakes above current median levels may affords a wide range of health benefits (p 263)

Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealandient Reference Values for
Australia and Zealand Nutrient reference values
[www.nhmrc.gov.au]

You think this is an exaggeration? No no. I know myself that taking very high levels of EPA/DHA combats stress almost completely so one will rarely experience it. I used to be a big stress head, but taking almost 5,000 mg of long chain omega 3 fats every second day makes stress very close to non existent. When l don’t meditate the effects are still almost non existent. As l upped my intake of these fats the ability to suffer stress was greatly decreased.

Some people who take these large amounts have suffered side effects such as bruising, and when they lowered the flax levels the symptoms went away, but some people very prone to stress [like myself] thrive on high levels. The point is, we need to stop justifying that the current rda for EPA/DHA is enough, because these levels are not always enough for everyone.

Below is a study showing how people with higher levels of DHA omega 3 fats have lower levels of the anti stress hormone norepinephrine. So if you are a vegan and losing your cool you may want to up your intake. And yes, many low fat raw vegans do seem to lose their cool and call people names, and this tells me that their diets are not optimal despite them feeling great. The body may feel great, but if you are losing your cool your mind obviously isn't feeling great, so it may be time to develop some awareness and realise things are not all right and make some changes and try increasing the fats to see what happens over coming months. I talk the tough talk here because it needs to be said because no-one else is saying it....it needs to be said....people need to wake up.


Anti-stress effects of DHA

Hamazaki T, Itomura M
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

the norepinephrine concentration was significantly decreased in the DHA group (-31%), whereas it stayed at the same level in the control group. These effects of DHA intake may be applied to people under psychological stress


I could go on and on and post dozens of studies and talk about this all week long, but the point is that we can no longer go around trying to justify low nutrient diets as being safe for all. When you do a low fat diet you will be doing a low EPA/DHA diet, and in this day and age of stressful demands it is not such a smart idea.

www.thesproutarian.com

I had a huge collection of EPA and DHA studies showing how important they are, and I believe it also included expert testimony to congress on the subject, but I have been thoroughly unable to locate it. This post has inspired me to redouble my efforts

If I find it I will post some information here on the subject.

What is your source of 5 mg EPA+DHA and how much is it costing you?

Living Food Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a huge collection of EPA and DHA studies
> showing how important they are, and I believe it
> also included expert testimony to congress on the
> subject, but I have been thoroughly unable to
> locate it. This post has inspired me to redouble
> my efforts
>
> If I find it I will post some information here on
> the subject.


I would love to see anything on EPA/DHA you could provide. Yes, l have a large EPA/DHA file too, almost 90 pages long.


arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is your source of 5 mg EPA+DHA and how much
> is it costing you?


First of all, l should state that it was a mistake to conclude l am having 5,000 mg of EPA/DHA because l can't be certain how well l am converting,so this figure may not be accurate. None-the-less, l am getting big benefits and the science indicates my conversion of ALA into EPA/DHA would be very high because of the unique way l combine my meals to get maximum conversion. For eg, l get high levels of amino acids, calcium, magnesium, B6, B9, copper and bring in a high iron and bacterial source to improve zinc bioavailability and create more nutritional synergy in the diet to greatly improve our ability to produce EPA/DHA (it is actually more going on than just that, but l will keep it simple for now). Now...just as important is to consume a high ALA food with a saturated fat background, because this can increase EPA manufacture by up to 600% according to science and 1,000% according to Gabreil Cousen's testing and increase DHA up to 600%. BUT...we must also be diligent to balance the omega 6's to the omega 3 ALA in an optimal ratio, preferrably 1:1. The ratio is tricky to achieve, but with due diligence one can nail this long chain fatty acids consumption and romp it all the way home. Unfortunately, the way most vegans do diets is going to be limited in relation to being able to produce high levels of EPA/DHA due to the nutritional inbalances and lack of a saturated fat background when having the high ALA foods.

And no, l do not need to do supplements or pay a lot of money to get the benefit, l just pay due diligence and structure the diet to maximise the effects from highly potent strategies so l can romp it all the way home with a smile on my dial.

EPA/DHA is a very big subject.

www.thesproutarian.com



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2015 11:41PM by The Sproutarian Man.

You didn't answer the questions.

Now...just as important is to consume a high ALA food with a saturated fat background, because this can increase EPA manufacture by up to 600% according to science and 1,000% according to Gabreil Cousen's testing and increase DHA up to 600%.

Do you have a citation for this? I think you have it backwards. My sources contradict that. Every source I have seen states that high saturated fat intakes interfere with the conversion process.

Some refs for you (this is the paper that Brenda Davis cites):

Essential fatty acids: biochemistry, physiology and pathology
Undurti N. Das Biotechnology Journal 2006 1, 420-439

A number of factors are known to influence the activities
of desaturases and elongases involved in the metabolism
of EFAs [1, 2, 11, 19, 20]. Saturated fats, cholesterol,
trans-fatty acids formed by vegetable oil processing, alco
hol, adrenaline, and glucocorticoids inhibit delta6 and delta5
desaturases.


Das cites these sources:

[1] Das, U.N., Horrobin, D.F., Begin, M.E., Huang, Y.S. et al., Clinical significance
of essential fatty acids. Nutrition 1988, 4, 337–342.

[2] Das, U.N., Essential fatty acids: Biology and their clinical implications.
Asian Pacific J. Pharmacol. 1991, 6, 317–330.

[11] Horrobin, D.F., The regulation of prostaglandin biosynthesis by the
manipulation of essential fatty acid metabolism. Rev. Pure Appl.
Pharmacol. Sci. 1983, 4, 339–383.

[19] Mozaffarian, D., Pischon, T., Hankinson, S.E., Rifai, N. et al., Dietary
intake of trans fatty acids and systemic inflammation in women.
Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2004, 79, 606–612.

[20] Brenner, R.R., Nutritional and hormonal factors influencing desaturation
of essential fatty acids. Prog. Lipid Res. 1982, 20, 41–48.

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

The use of ALA labelled with radioisotopes suggested that with a background diet high in saturated fat conversion to long-chain metabolites is approximately 6% for EPA and 3.8% for DHA.


Here's a quote from Gabriel Cousens:

"I like to use saturated fat like coconut oil because it increases the conversion of short chain omega-3 to long chain omega-3 from 1-3% conversion up to 10% conversion, depending on the research studies.

A fast oxidizer may need a combination of 3 tablespoon of ground flax seeds, twice a day with one tablespoon of coconut oil. This combination should give abundant Omega-3’s."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2015 01:41AM by jtprindl.

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
>
> The use of ALA labelled with radioisotopes
> suggested that with a background diet high in
> saturated fat conversion to long-chain metabolites
> is approximately 6% for EPA and 3.8% for DHA.

not sure of the relevance of this?

says nothing about the conversion with a lower sat fat diet.

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jtprindl Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
> >
> > The use of ALA labelled with radioisotopes
> > suggested that with a background diet high in
> > saturated fat conversion to long-chain
> metabolites
> > is approximately 6% for EPA and 3.8% for DHA.
>
> not sure of the relevance of this?
>
> says nothing about the conversion with a lower sat
> fat diet.


I've questioned this as well but I believe this is the study TSM is referring to.

i just don't see that it means anything.

sat fat vs pufa is not an either or scenario, which is what they are trying to imply

poor conclusion from poor assumptions, it seems to me.

I would like to see the studies Gabriel Cousen's is referring to.

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
>
> The use of ALA labelled with radioisotopes
> suggested that with a background diet high in
> saturated fat conversion to long-chain metabolites
> is approximately 6% for EPA and 3.8% for DHA.
>
>
> Here's a quote from Gabriel Cousens:
>
> "I like to use saturated fat like coconut oil
> because it increases the conversion of short chain
> omega-3 to long chain omega-3 from 1-3% conversion
> up to 10% conversion, depending on the research
> studies.
>
> A fast oxidizer may need a combination of 3
> tablespoon of ground flax seeds, twice a day with
> one tablespoon of coconut oil. This combination
> should give abundant Omega-3’s."


The paper you cited does not suggest that saturated
fat improves conversion of ALA to EPA/DHA. It suggests
that excess omega6 impairs conversion by comparison.

It's in a low-impact paper, as well, which explains why
very few people are citing it. I am disappointed in him.
His conclusion is not supported.

arugula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You didn't answer the questions.
>
> Now...just as important is to consume a high ALA
> food with a saturated fat background, because this
> can increase EPA manufacture by up to 600%
> according to science and 1,000% according to
> Gabreil Cousen's testing and increase DHA up to
> 600%.
>
> Do you have a citation for this? I think you have
> it backwards. My sources contradict that. Every
> source I have seen states that high saturated fat
> intakes interfere with the conversion process.

I have seen a study which says that saturated fat interferes, but l also have studies which clearly show that the saturated fat does great help.

jtprindl posted one of the studies, there is also a good one done on rats. Page 62 gets to the crux of it.


Favorable Effects of Blue-Green Algae Aphanizomenon flos-aquae on Rat Plasma Lipids


Rafail I. Kushak, PhD, Christian Drapeau et al
[courses.washington.edu]


There is also Gabriel who claims it also works with people, and l believe him because it lines up with these studies and he has probably tested people at T.O.L to be able to make such a strong claim.

www.thesproutarian.com

wow, that study also says nothing meaningful.

Thanks for the paper TSM.

Rafail I. Kushak, PhD, Christian Drapeau et al
[courses.washington.edu]

22-6n3 is lower in the coconut oil group than in the soybean oil group.

I would not rely on coconut increasing conversion rates, despite what Cousens says. I think he is getting it wrong in this case. Nobody is perfect.

If you have to take in extra fat (extra meaning any overt fat intake beyond your EFA requirements), MUFA is probably safer--olive, avocado, almond, pistachio, macadamia, stuff like that. But do not neglect MUFA source o63 ratios. If you eat a high MUFA diet you can easily mess up the ideal ratio even if you are doing your flax and/or chia.