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DHA & EPA, The Lifesaving Omega-3s |
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by Parris M. Kidd, Ph.D.
DHA & EPA, The Lifesaving Omega-3s
Introducing a Golden Age of Nutrition
The omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA are the BIG news in nutritional medicine today. And for the best reasons. First, they directly save lives by protecting against heart attack, including the lethal arrhythmias. They’re safe to take long-term, they’re affordable, and their anti-inflammatory properties ensure protection for all our organs. The scientific evidence is now incontrovertible (read awesome) that DHA/EPA are essential for good health and long life.
DHA and EPA are such awesome nutrients that agencies and
institutions historically hostile to nutrition have gone on record to support their use. The American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), even the good ol’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are all praising DHA and EPA. And the way the research is going, don’t be surprised when the cancer establishment and the weight loss folks also sign on.
Cell Membrane Nutrients—Essential to Life Itself
DHA and EPA are fatty acids—long, stretched out molecules
with their carbon atoms linked all in a row and carrying also
multiple hydrogens and a few oxygens. Both these molecules
have unsaturated, carbon-carbon double bonds (DHA has 6, EPA
has 5). They are present in all our cells, where they help build
the dynamic membrane systems that do just about everything
important for life.
The cell is the basic unit of life. Within all cells, the
majority of life processes occur in or upon the membranes.
DHA and EPA are part and parcel of larger phospholipid
molecules that are the structural and functional
building blocks for all cell membranes. This makes them
crucial to the survival, growth, renewal and assorted life
functions of our cells, and by extension to our tissues and
organs and our body as a whole.
The DHA and EPA content of our cell membranes responds
to our dietary intake so that we have power over the omega-3
content of all our cell membranes. From the huge amount of
research conducted over the past three decades, here’s some
of what DHA and EPA do for our health:
- Support brain development and maintenance from conception to the end of life;
- Support and protect the heart muscle, coronary circulation, and all blood vessels against atherosclerosis, and contribute to blood pressure maintenance;
- Support healthy anti-inflammatory balance in the brain, intestines, joints, all other organs;
- Help maintain positive mood, including lifting depression and calming manic activity;
- Help keep children calm while optimizing their cognitive performance;
- Very likely contribute to cancer prevention (more studies needed);
- Probably assist with weight maintenance (more studies needed);
- Improve skin quality through enhanced blood flow and other means;
- Overall, increase quality of life and extend disease-free lifespan.
Lifesaving Benefits for the Heart and Circulation
With heart and blood vessel diseases still the number 1 cause of
death, and coronary heart disease killing half a million people
annually in the United States alone, DHA/EPA’s proven cardiovascular
benefits make them a salvation for public health. In
late 2004, the United States FDA approved one of their famously
grudging qualified health claims: “Supportive but not conclusive
research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty
acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”
The evidence supports the following cardiovascular benefits
for DHA/EPA:
- Prevention of first or second heart attack, including sudden cardiac death;
- Protection against cardiac arrhythmia, improvement of heart rate variability;
- Prevention of coronary artery re-blockage (from atherosclerosis reoccurrence);
- Reduction of clotting risk from inappropriate platelet behavior;
- Slowing of atherosclerosis by improving the vessel lining (endothelium);
- Improvement of insulin sensitivity, and lowering of circulating triglyceride levels;
- Reduction of triglyceride surge after a meal (linked to heart attack risk).
Essential to Brain Development, Cognition and Mood
The human brain doesn’t work to its full potential without
omega-3s. The dynamic properties they give to cell membranes
are especially necessary for our nerve cells, which are the largest
and busiest cells in the body. DHA/EPA give a fluidity to cell
membranes that allows for efficient conduction of the electrical
stimuli and for overall high efficiency within the brain.
High brain demand for DHA/EPA begins in utero, even as the
fetal brain is being mapped out. Demand rises as the brain grows
exponentially in the third trimester, and it continues after birth
as the baby’s circuitry becomes consolidated through environmental
experience. After years of scandalous neglect, omega-3s are finally in infant formulas, though breast is still best and the
mother should generously endow her milk with DHA/EPA.
As the child grows and matures, the high demand continues,
since DHA/EPA are necessary for learning, memory and
other cognitive functions, and mood and appropriate self-control.
The brain’s demand for DHA/EPA continues throughout life.
Population (epidemiologic) surveys and other clinical studies
indicate that adults in middle age or older who have more DHA/
EPA in their cell membranes have a lower risk not just for heart
attack or stroke, but for suffering accelerated brain decline and
progression to dementia.
DHA/EPA are very effective in managing mood disorders:
clinical depression, manic depression (bipolar disorder), and,
to a lesser extent, schizophrenia. They’re also good for developmental
disorders such as AD(H)D and dyslexias, and have the
potential to help autistic kids. The intakes required for these
disorders are on the order of grams per day, amounts that can
only be fully obtained by taking concentrated supplements.
Cell Membrane Nutrients—Allied with Phospholipids
and Antioxidants
The phospholipids that are the major cell membrane
building blocks, especially PS (phosphatidylserine) and GPC
(glycerophosphocholine) both have stellar records as dietary
supplements for memory, learning, mood, and stress relief.
Both these nutrients have a biochemical synergy with DHA,
whereby they move these molecules into the nerve cell membrane
and hold them in position to enhance membrane fluidity
and related membrane dynamics. PS-DHA (from combining
PS+DHA) and PC-DHA (from GPC+DHA) are key molecular components
of the brain’s billions of circuits. Phospholipids also hold
EPA in place for it to be a precursor to messenger substances
(“eicosanoids”).
Healthy cells have a complement of antioxidants that sit in
their membranes to protect them against spontaneous disintegration.
The membrane antioxidants work in natural synergy
with the omega-3s in the membrane. Being especially endowed
with unsaturated bonds these fatty acids, are especially prone
to oxidative (“free radical”) destruction without the antioxidants
close by to protect them. Within the active membrane milieu,
DHA and EPA are in natural synergy with the membrane’s antioxidants
as well as its phospholipids.
The most important membrane antioxidants are vitamin
E, coenzyme Q10, and the various carotenoids. Membrane antioxidants
also regulate the production of messenger substances
from EPA in the membrane. These eicosanoids (prostaglandins,
thromboxanes, leukotrienes) are formed by controlled oxidation
of EPA, a fragile process kept in favorable balance by having
adequate antioxidants in the membrane.
Just as in the membrane, DHA/EPA supplement products
also need membrane antioxidants close by. They’re safe to
store and consume as dietary supplements only when they’re
well protected against spontaneous oxidation. Good omega-3
supplements have generous amounts of antioxidants added
in, and they are certified free of pollutants by independent lab
analysis. Incidentally, the shorter chain alpha linolenic acid
cannot adequately substitute for DHA/EPA.
DHA/EPA Omega-3s Have Something for Everyone
Just as every thinking family has a bottle of vitamin C around,
now they will have a high-quality DHA/EPA supplement. The
pregnant mother needs generous intakes to nurture her fetus,
throughout pregnancy postpartum depression has in fact, been
linked to omega-3 deficiency. The newborn needs it to build and
mature all the organs. Older kids need the omega-3s to help
them function in school and avoid behavioral problems. But
their parents need them also, maybe more so.
All adults should be taking DHA/EPA, not just to protect them
against heart attack or stroke but to help them stay energetic,
positive and balanced as they deal with the stresses of work and
family. Women with menstrual or menopausal problems and
men with fertility problems also stand to benefit. The grandparents
need it for their arthritis, their intestinal problems, to help
prevent osteoporosis, to feel good, period. There’s also fastaccumulating
evidence that DHA/EPA supplements help fend off
memory loss. They may help for weight control, and likely lower
the risk of some cancers. DHA/EPA have something important
to offer everyone.
While the omega-3 DHA/EPA are undoubtedly “good fats,”
the omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid, arachidonic acid) are often
called “bad fats.” This is a fundamental misunderstanding,
because they also are essential for healthy cell function. The real
“bad fats” come from a diet that is very high in saturated fats
and cholesterol, or especially from the hydrogenated (“trans”)
fats that come from processed foods. The former can make our
cell membranes too rigid; the latter pollute our cell membranes.
Both threaten the membranes’ omega-6 to omega-3 balance,
which is the key functional measure. It’s not the quantity of fats
that we consume, but their quality that brings problems.
For optimal health, our cell membranes must have both
omega-6s and omega-3s. To get your membrane Omega-3
Index, check out http://reglab.saintlukes-org (St. Lukes Hospital,
Kansas City, Missouri) or www.gsdl.com (Great Smokies
Diagnostic Laboratory, Asheville, North Carolina).
How Much Should We Take?
DHA/EPA are practically vitamins, since we have to obtain virtually
all our needed supply from our diet. They seem to work best when taken together in a
1:1 ratio. The shorter-chain alpha-linolenic
acid is not a useful additive, since it is not
efficiently converted to EPA and then DHA.
Our diet has been losing these since the
early 1900s, when industrialized food processing
came into vogue. Certain spreads
and other foods enriched in omega-3s are
now available, but caution is required to
ensure that their other ingredients are
helpful. For example, one heavily promoted
spread carries trans fats that are
liable to defeat its stated purpose.
Currently, the typical Western diet
provides 100 mg EPA+DHA per day or less.
The most reliable minimum intake figure
for protection of the heart and circulation
is 850 mg per day of DHA+EPA. This is
likely the lowest daily intake necessary for
adults to maintain their health. To get this
amount from the diet alone would require
eating one large serving of salmon every
day. The USDA’s and others’ recommendations
that Americans consume two meals
per week of oily fish—salmon, trout, or
herring—would still fall short of 850 mg
per day.
From the clinical-scientific knowledge
base, the 850 mg daily intake from one
meal every day is still at the low end of
intakes needed for full benefit. Also, most
salmon available in the stores is contaminated
with mercury or other toxic heavy
metals, or with petrochemical pollutants.
Wild salmon is better, but is very hard to
find and is expensive. The unavoidable
alternative is to take dietary supplements
rich in DHA/EPA.
Will the Codex-WTO Conspiracy Take
Away Omega-3s?
Codex Alimentarius is the body of
government representatives and nongovernmental
organizations charged
by the United Nations’ World Health
Organization and Food and Agriculture
Organization to establish international
guidelines on food law. Unfortunately,
the committee handling dietary supplements
has not been operating openly and
through consensus. If this committee’s
biased recommendations are accepted
by the Codex Commission, and the U.S.
government accepts Codex Alimentarius,
it could impose restrictive standards on
the types and potencies of dietary supplements
available to the American public.
Causing further concern is that the
Codex Commission signed agreements
with the World Trade Organization (WTO)
that give WTO the right to use any Codex
document as international trade standard.
So if the Codex Commission adopts the
proposed restrictive guidelines, the U.S.
or another country could get dragged
into court for violating GATT or NAFTA
Free Trade policies. Pharmaceutical interests
are highly influential in the Codex
process, and the omega-3s are so good
they could threaten the statins as well
as aspirin and other anti-inflammatories.
So let’s keep a wary eye on this Codex-
WTO unholy alliance.
DHA and EPA—Pioneering a Golden
Age for Nutrition
The Codex conspiracy may have something
to do with the dietary supplement
paradigm—a safe and affordable means
for people to become healthy—overtaking
the toxic pharmaceutical paradigm. The
Old Order is scared by the writing on the
wall: Anything Drugs Can Do, Nutrients
Can Do Better. DHA/EPA are leading the
charge—no pharmaceutical does as
much as they do. But they are just one
example of the versatility of nutrients for
human health.
Society needs the freedom to consume
nutrients over a wide range of dosages.
Typically there’s a great range of difference
between intake of a nutrient to
prevent deficiency symptoms, and taking
higher amounts to build optimal health.
Nutrients such as vitamin C, coenzyme
Q10 (CoQ), and folic acid (folate) remain
safe and are increasingly effective as their
intakes are increased. Take vitamin C, for
example. Vitamin C’s safe and effective
intakes range from less than 100 mg to
more than 100,000 mg, at which level it’s
a lifesaving antiviral. CoQ at 400 mg may
well protect against cancer, in addition to
helping the circulation, brain and other
organs. With folate, the higher our intakes
the lower our risks for various cancers.
Similar to these nutrients, DHA/EPA
have a broad intake range: a few hundred
milligrams a day for most kids, less than 1
gram for healthy people, more than 1 gram
for heart attack survivors, and up to 10
grams for mood disorders. Society needs
to have access to these and all the other
nutrients in their safe dosage forms and
potencies. DHA/EPA are opening the door
to a Golden Age for nutrition. Let’s protect
them, so that we and our children’s
children can benefit from them.
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