Fri, 16 Sep 2005 04:02:47 +0300 in article
<[email hidden]> Matti Narkia
Quoted message said:15 Sep 2005 14:49:54 -0700 in article
<[email hidden]> "montygram"
Quoted message said:
Let your body makes its own PUFA, the Mead acid, which is undeniably
much more biochemically stable than the long-chain PUFAs that will be
in your body if you eat more than very small amounts of dietary PUFAs.
There is no "down side," or else I and several others I know would
have experienced it already. Most studies of the effects of drugs are
done for months, not years. I switched over to the Mead acid years
ago, and have only seen benefits.
Mead acid is only produced by "accident", i.e. when there is not enough
omega-3 and omega-6s for elongase and desaturase enzymes to work on. These
enzymes can work, in order of preference, on omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9
fatty acids. They prepare longer chain fatty acids from 18-carbon member of
each of these fatty acid families, i.e. from alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3),
linoleic acid (omega-6), and oleic acid (omega-9). In EFA deficiency these
enzymes don't have enough omega-3 and omega-6s to work on, so they kind of
"accidentally" start making mead acid from oleic acid (omega-9), although
mead acid apparantly has no major function in our bodies and cannot do
things omega-3s and omega-6s do.
Read the article
Bistrian BR.
Clinical aspects of essential fatty acid metabolism: Jonathan Rhoads
Lecture.
JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2003 May-Jun;27(3):168-75. Review.
PMID: 12757109 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
<http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3762/is_200305/ai_n9216964>
and learn.
According to the study
Helland IB, Smith L, Saarem K, Saugstad OD, Drevon CA.
Maternal supplementation with very-long-chain n-3 fatty acids during
pregnancy and lactation augments children's IQ at 4 years of age.
Pediatrics. 2003 Jan;111(1):e39-44.
PMID: 12509593 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/111/1/e39>
<http://www.nordicnaturals.com/direct/researchview.asp?docname=childiq.asp>
maternal intake of very-long-chain n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation
may be favorable for later mental development of children. Moreover, mead
acid (20:3 n-9) and Osbond acid correlated negatively with intelligence
scores. Citations:
"Objectives. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 n-3) and
arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4 n-6) are important for
development of the central nervous system in mammals.
There is a growth spurt in the human brain during the last
trimester of pregnancy and the first postnatal months,
with a large increase in the cerebral content of AA and
DHA. The fetus and the newborn infant depend on maternal
supply of DHA and AA. Our hypothesis was that maternal
intake of DHA during pregnancy and lactation is marginal
and that high intake of this fatty acid would benefit the
child. We examined the effect of supplementing pregnant
and lactating women with very-long-chain n-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs; cod liver oil) on
mental development of the children, compared with maternal
supplementation with long-chain n-6 PUFAs (corn oil).
Methods. The study was randomized and double-blinded.
Pregnant women were recruited in week 18 of pregnancy to
take 10 mL of cod liver oil or corn oil until 3 months
after delivery. The cod liver oil contained 1183 mg/10 mL
DHA, 803 mg/10 mL eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3), and a
total of 2494 mg/10 mL n-3 PUFAs. The corn oil contained
4747 mg/10 mL linoleic acid (18:2 n-6) and 92 mg/10 mL -
linolenic acid (18:3 n-3). The amount of fat-soluble
vitamins was identical in the 2 oils (117 µg/mL vitamin A,
1 µg/mL vitamin D, and 1.4 mg/mL dl--tocopherol). A total
of 590 pregnant women were recruited to the study, and 341
mothers took part in the study until giving birth. All
infants of these women were scheduled for assessment of
cognitive function at 6 and 9 months of age, and 262
complied with the request. As part of the protocol, 135
subjects from this population were invited for
intelligence testing with the Kaufman Assessment Battery
for Children (K-ABC) at 4 years of age. Of the 135 invited
children, 90 came for assessment. Six children did not
complete the examination. The K-ABC is a measure of
intelligence and achievement designed for children aged
2.5 years through 12.5 years. This multisubtest battery
comprises 4 scales: Sequential Processing, Simultaneous
Processing, Achievement (not used in the present study),
and Nonverbal Abilities. The Sequential Processing and
Simultaneous Processing scales are hypothesized to reflect
the child’s style of problem solving and information
processing. Scores from these 2 scales are combined to
form a Mental Processing Composite, which serves as the
measure of intelligence in the K-ABC.
Results. We received dietary information from 76 infants
(41 in the cod liver oil group and 35 in the corn oil
group), documenting that all of them were breastfed at 3
months of age. Children who were born to mothers who had
taken cod liver oil (n = 48) during pregnancy and
lactation scored higher on the Mental Processing Composite
of the K-ABC at 4 years of age as compared with children
whose mothers had taken corn oil (n = 36; 106.4 [7.4] vs
102.3 [11.3]). The Mental Processing Composite score
correlated significantly with head circumference at birth
(r = 0.23), but no relation was found with birth weight or
gestational length. The children’s mental processing
scores at 4 years of age correlated significantly with
maternal intake of DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid during
pregnancy. In a multiple regression model, maternal intake
of DHA during pregnancy was the only variable of
statistical significance for the children’s mental
processing scores at 4 years of age.
Conclusion. Maternal intake of very-long-chain n-3 PUFAs
during pregnancy and lactation may be favorable for later
mental development of children.
[...]
Cognitive Tests
Children in the cod liver oil group had significantly
higher scores than the children in the corn oil group on
the Mental Processing Composite of the K-ABC test at 4
years of age (106.4 [7.4] vs 102.3 [11.3]; P = .049; Fig
1). There was a clear tendency to higher scores for the
Sequential Processing scale, Simultaneous Processing
scale, and Nonverbal scale among children who were born to
mothers who were given cod liver oil (Fig 1), but these
differences were not statistically significant. No
differences were observed between children who received
cod liver oil or not. The Mental Processing Composite
score correlated significantly with head circumference at
birth (r = 0.23; P = .04), but no relation was found with
birth weight or gestational length.
No correlation was observed between very-long-chain n-3
PUFAs in umbilical plasma phospholipids and intelligence
scores, but Mead acid (20:3 n-9) and Osbond acid
correlated negatively with intelligence scores (Mead acid:
Simultaneous Processing, r = -0.24, P = .04; Nonverbal
Scale, r = -0.25, P = .03; Osbond acid: Mental Processing
Composite, r = -0.29, P = .01; Sequential Processing, r =
-0.31, P = .008, Nonverbal Scale, r = -0.25, P = .03).
Moreover, intelligence scores at 4 years of age correlated
with plasma phospholipid concentrations of
docosapentaenoic acid n-3 (22:5 n-3; Mental Processing
Composite, r = 0.23, P = .03) and DHA (Mental Processing
Composite, r = 0.28, P = .01; Sequential Processing, r =
0.22, P = .05; Simultaneous Processing, r = 0.25, P = .03)
at 4 weeks of age. Mental processing skills of the
children correlated significantly with maternal intake of
EPA (Mental Processing Composite, r = 0.27, P = .02;
Simultaneous Processing, r = 0.25, P = .04) and DHA
(Mental Processing Composite, r = 0.26, P = .03;
Simultaneous Processing, r = 0.24, P = .04) during
pregnancy. In a regression model (backward stepwise) with
Mental Processing Composite as dependent variable and
maternal intake of DHA, gestational length, head
circumference, maternal age, parity, parental education,
maternal smoking, and cod liver oil intake of the infant
as independent variables, maternal intake of DHA was the
only variable with statistical significance (r2 = 0.07; P
= .03) unilaterally evaluated.
This is the first study to examine the long-term effects
on children of maternal supplementation with very-long-
chain n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation. Our
present study shows that 4-year-old children have higher
mental processing scores when the mothers are supplemented
with very-long-chain n-3 PUFAs (from cod liver oil) during
pregnancy and lactation, as compared with children of
mothers who are supplemented with long-chain n-6 PUFAs
(from corn oil).
[...]
This study indicates that maternal supplementation with very-long-chain
n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and lactation improves the intelligence of
children at 4 years of age. Perhaps adequate supply of very-long-chain
PUFA during pregnancy is just as important as in the neonatal period."
--
Matti Narkia
