Nutrition Science Update - Essential Fatty Acids (Part Ten of
Ten)
There can be no doubt that the field of nutrition has come of age. More than 80 years have passed since the first vitamin was discovered. Today the speed at which laboratory and clinical findings are released is so accelerated that an individual's understanding of nutrition is seriously out-dated if he or she is not abreast of the findings published within even the past year.
This special Nutrition Science Update takes the guesswork out of keeping up-to-date on important nutritional breakthroughs by presenting the following summations of all the most important research released over the past year.
Key Concepts in Probiotics Research:
The small amount of omega-3 fatty acids found in one serving of salmon per week can cut the risk of cardiac arrest in half, researchers determined after measuring blood levels of fatty acids in patients who died from cardiac arrest and healthy controls. (Siscovick, D.S., Journal of the American Medical Association, 1995;274(17):1363-1367.)
Fish oil supplements are also believed to be a valuable treatment for congestive heart failure, in which the heart cannot pump effectively. According to the article in Medical Hypotheses (McCarty, M.E, 1996;46:400-406), "omega-3-rich fish oil should lessen peripheral resistance and decrease blood viscosity," along with other benefits in order to lower the chance of heart attack in patients with congestive heart failure. Furthermore, fish oil supplements may compensate for many of the detrimental health effects of smoking. (McCarty, M-E, Medical Hypothesis, 1996;46:337-347.)
Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid found in borage and evening primrose seed oils, may relieve some of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. "GLA has been shown in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to be a useful therapy for [rheumatoid arthritis]," concludes a study in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism (Rothman, D., 1995;25(2):87-96).
Behavior, learning, and health problems are more common in boys 6-12 years old if their omega-3 fatty acid levels are low, while a study of 53 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 43 healthy controls found that essential fatty acid deficiencies are more common in ADHD children. This suggests a role of essential fatty acids in ADHD. (Stevens, L.J., Physiology & Behavior, 1996;59:915-920).
Essential fatty acids may have another benefit for children. A group of Italian researchers, according to their study of 20 children reported in the Journal of International Medical Research (1996;24:325-330), found that supplements containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids reduce the number of respiratory infections suffered by children.
By Victoria Dolby - Vitamin Retailer / February 1997
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