Omega 3 Fatty Acids

[Sinapi]

Anybody tried the purslane ?
I ask as I have it in abundance (picture attached). When I read first time this post I looked for translation to romanian (result: purslane). I ask my wife if she knows this plant and is called "iarba grass" (fat weed) so it can be that has Omega 3.
But I am wondering how good it can do? (because is not part of carnivore diet)
If nobody tried it, I will do it :D

A variety of purslane used to grow wild on my grandpa's property in Southern California. Very drought tolerant plant. It's okay in a stir fry, kind of sour. While it has a lot of nutrients, it's also extremely high in oxalates, comparable to levels in spinach (1063mg/100g total oxalates raw, from Marek Doyle's oxalate calculator). Very bad if you're aiming for a low oxalate diet (less than 50 mg total oxalate per day). I would only eat it regularly if I were on the brink of starvation. I'll stick with fish oil and cod liver oil for omega 3s.

Purslane Weed (Portulaca oleracea): A Prospective Plant Source of Nutrition, Omega-3 Fatty Acid, and Antioxidant Attributes

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is an important plant naturally found as a weed in field crops and lawns. Purslane is widely distributed around the globe and is popular as a potherb in many areas of Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean region. This plant ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is an important plant naturally found as a weed in field crops and lawns. Purslane is widely distributed around the globe and is popular as a potherb in many areas of Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean region. This plant possesses mucilaginous substances which are of medicinal importance. It is a rich source of potassium (494 mg/100 g) followed by magnesium (68 mg/100 g) and calcium (65 mg/100 g) and possesses the potential to be used as vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acid. It is very good source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and gamma-linolenic acid (LNA, 18 : 3 w3) (4 mg/g fresh weight) of any green leafy vegetable. It contained the highest amount (22.2 mg and 130 mg per 100 g of fresh and dry weight, resp.) of alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid (26.6 mg and 506 mg per 100 g of fresh and dry weight, resp.). The oxalate content of purslane leaves was reported as 671–869 mg/100 g fresh weight. The antioxidant content and nutritional value of purslane are important for human consumption. It revealed tremendous nutritional potential and has indicated the potential use of this herb for the future.

 

[Persej]

And here is the new study that shows that besides B vitamins, you also need choline to put omega 3 inside your brain:

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is highly enriched in the brain, and is essential for normal brain development and function. However, evidence suggests that currently used supplements, such as fish oil, do not significantly increase brain DHA levels. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether combined fish oil and choline supplementation could affect the type and enrich the content of DHA in the brain. The results revealed that the combined intake of fish oil and choline upregulated the expression of key transporters and receptors, including MFSD2A, FATP1, and FABP5, which increased the uptake of DHA in the brain. Additionally, this supplementation improved the synthesis and release of acetylcholine in the brain, which, in turn, enhanced the learning and memory abilities of mice. These findings suggest that the combined intake of fish oil and choline improves the bioavailability of DHA in the brain.

Choline and Fish Oil Can Improve Memory of Mice through Increasing Brain DHA Level

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is highly enriched in the brain, and is essential for normal brain development and function. However, evidence suggests that currently used supplements, such as fish oil, do not significantly increase brain DHA levels. Therefore, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Which was also showed in pregnant women:

By tracking the labeled choline, the researchers identified a chemical reaction in which choline donates small molecules called methyl groups that are added to a molecule called phosphatidylethanolamine. Through a biological pathway, phosphatidylethanolamine is converted to a new choline-containing molecule, phosphatidylcholine, which is enriched with DHA. In this form, DHA gets transferred out of the liver and into a mother’s bloodstream, where it is available for use in tissues.

Choline makes key nutrient available for baby development | Cornell Chronicle

The nutrient choline – shown to have long-term benefits for children whose mothers consume it during pregnancy – also helps the body more efficiently use an omega 3 fatty acid that is essential for fetal development.

news.cornell.edu

Now, in the first study they used choline bitartrate which doesn't have a good bioavailability, unlike the more natural source, such as egg yolks, so if they used the egg yolks the results would probably be even better.

Consumption of natural choline from egg yolk phospholipids improved choline absorption compared to consumption of chemically produced choline bitartrate. This information is of relevance for the food industry, instead of adding choline-salts, adding choline from egg yolk phospholipids can improve choline uptake and positively impact health.

Natural Choline from Egg Yolk Phospholipids Is More Efficiently Absorbed Compared with Choline Bitartrate; Outcomes of A Randomized Trial in Healthy Adults

Choline is a vitamin-like essential nutrient, important throughout one’s lifespan. Therefore, choline salts are added to infant formula, supplements and functional foods. However, if choline is present in a natural form, e.g. bound to phospholipids, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Gwenllian]

Now, in the first study they used choline bitartrate which doesn't have a good bioavailability, unlike the more natural source, such as egg yolks, so if they used the egg yolks the results would probably be even better.

ATM I am taking Alpha GPC (L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine), which is also a bioavailable source of choline, in order to give my brain a little boost.

 

[Persej]

ATM I am taking Alpha GPC (L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine), which is also a bioavailable source of choline, in order to give my brain a little boost.

Yes, that is the improved version of choline. In these studies, they used the cheapest version, but it still worked. So it can be even better if a better version of choline is consumed.

 

[Persej]

Physical exercise increases the DHA and AA in the brain:

Voluntary Running in Young Adult Mice Reduces Anxiety-Like Behavior and Increases the Accumulation of Bioactive Lipids in the Cerebral Cortex - PMC

Combinatorial therapies using voluntary exercise and diet supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids have synergistic effects benefiting brain function and behavior. Here, we assessed the effects of voluntary exercise on anxiety-like behavior ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Perhaps this is the reason why scientists couldn't put the omega 3 in the brains of mice? Because the mice were not running in other experiments?

I was wondering why running increased DNA and AA in the brain, and there could be several possible reasons, but one thing that occurred to me is that both fatty acids are long chain fatty acids, and LCFA are mostly transported through lymph. And aerobic exercises, such as running, improve the lymph flow. And possibly the influx of lymph into the brain which carry the LCFA.

The glymphatic system is a pathway for circulation of cerebrospinal fluid through the interstitial space, which mediates clearance of intracerebral neurotoxic waste to the peripheral circulation.

We propose that heightened glymphatic activity induced by exercise may favor brain health by enhancing clearance of neurotoxic waste products from brain.

Voluntary running enhances glymphatic influx in awake behaving, young mice - PubMed

Vascular pathology and protein accumulation contribute to cognitive decline, whereas exercise can slow vascular degeneration and improve cognitive function. Recent investigations suggest that glymphatic clearance measured in aged mice while anesthetized is enhanced following exercise. We...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Here, the scientists are talking about getting stuff out of the brain, but I think that there is also a possibility that some things can get improved influx into the brain.

 

[Persej]

If the theory about the lymph flow and the DHA uptake is correct, then the uptake of DHA into the brain could also be improved by high salt water intake.

A comparison is made of the rates of thoracic duct lymph flow in un-anaesthetized male rats maintained under the experimental conditions of fasting and feeding, with free access to either water or 1% NaCl solution.

Thoracic duct lymph flow is at a low level in the fasted animal with free access to water. The rate of flow is increased by feeding or access to 1% NaCl solution. The rate of flow in the fed animal with free access to 1% NaCl is increased appreciably over that of the controls, and out of proportion to any hitherto employed method for voluntarily increasing lymph flow in the otherwise normal animal. In some instances, the lymph flow of the NaCl treated animal exceeded the body weight of the animal in a 24-hour period.

Alternation of periods of access to water and saline solution produced corresponding low and high rates of lymph flow in the fed animals.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3181/00379727-72-17494?journalCode=ebma

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any proof of that theory, but I did found that fluoride reduces omega 3 in the brain, and we know that salt water is good for removal of fluoride from the body, so at least it could help indirectly.

Also, sodium fluoride inhibits the absorption of lipids, but sodium chloride doesn't.

 

[Uperios]

DHA Is Crucial for Cellular Health
With regards to your mitochondria, these organelles have an inner membrane.
Cardiolipin is an important component of this membrane and it needs to be saturated in DHA, which happens to be very susceptible to oxidation. Cardiolipin can be likened to a cellular alarm system that triggers apoptosis (cell death) by signaling caspase-3 whens omething goes wrong with the cell.
However, if the cardiolipin is not saturated with DHA, it cannot signal caspase-3, and
hence apoptosis does not occur. As a result, dysfunctional cells are allowed to continuet o grow, which can turn into a cancerous cell. Similarly, in your brain, DHA is used as a signal to stimulate NRF2, heme oxygenase 1 and to upregulate antioxidant enzymes.
"Omega-3s oxidizing in the body is bad, but our bodies kind of know what to do
with that signal, whereas omega-6, not so much, because we didn't have as
much during Paleolithic times," DiNicolantonio says.
Lowering your omega-6 intake is also important for the removal of senescent cells, i.e.,a ged, damaged or crippled cells that have lost the ability to reproduce. If senescent cells are not removed, they start gunking up the machinery. Fasting is another method that will clear out senescent cells.

from a Dr Mercola article (attached).

 

[Uperios]

Omega-3 — A Simple Way to Lower Your Risk of Disease​

Omega-3 — A Simple Way to Lower Your Risk of Disease- Interview with Dr. Bill Harris

In this video, I interview William (Bill) Harris, Ph.D., an internationally recognized expert on omega-3 fatty acids. He’s been studying omega-3s since 1980 and has published more than 300 scientific papers on fatty acids and health. The Omega-3 In…

www.bitchute.com

Story at a glance:

• The Omega-3 Index test measures the amount of EPA and DHA, the two long-chain omega-3s found in marine sources, in red blood cell membranes, expressed as a percentage of the total fatty acids in the membrane
• Most Americans have an index of 4% to 5% of EPA/DHA in their red blood cell membranes, and the target is between 8% to 12%. To raise your index from 5% to 8%, you need roughly 1,000 mg to 1,200 mg of EPA/DHA per day
• Higher omega-3 index has been linked to better health across the board, and appears to lower the risk of most, if not all, chronic diseases
• Another ratio commonly referred to is the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, but this ratio is not nearly as useful or important as the omega-3 index
• EPA and DHA help thin the blood, lower the risk of stroke and heart attack, lower serum triglyceride levels, blood pressure and inflammation, add structural stability to the mitochondrial membrane and aid mitochondrial energy processes

 

[Persej]

We don't have a separate topic about Omega-6 fatty acids on the forum, because nobody in the world, it seems, is interested in Omega-6, because they are supposedly bad for us and we are already having too much of Omega-6 in our diet, so they say, but investigating that thread led me to some potentially interesting discoveries.

And one of them, that I'm going to put in this thread because Omega-6 are connected to Omega-3, is this study that says that refined vegetable oils have very little Omega-6 fatty acids, unlike the cold pressed oils. You can see the results in Table 2: Rapid adulteration detection of cold pressed oils with their refined versions by UV–Vis spectroscopy - Scientific Reports

Now, if that is true, and the modern western population is not consuming a huge amount of Omega-6, or at least not in their natural form, that opens a big can of worms...

This is the only study that shows such drastic difference between refined and cold pressed oils, so I don't know why is that so and is their method of analysis more accurate than the method of other groups, but if it is, then it makes a big difference on how we view many things when it comes to the connection between fats and human health. More about that later, since I am still experimenting with some cold pressed sunflower oil. What I can say for sure right now is that cold pressed oil has no bad effect on my stomach, unlike the refined oil.

 

[Goemon_]

More about that later, since I am still experimenting with some cold pressed sunflower oil. What I can say for sure right now is that cold pressed oil has no bad effect on my stomach, unlike the refined oil.

That does sound strange to me. I have made sunflower oil in the past with a somewhat simple tool (endless screw) and a flame (though little) was needed.

 

[Persej]

Yes, it is strange. But even if there is something wrong with their method, or with the oils that they used for their study, there is also an issue of oxidation of Omega-6 and the way that this problem is solved in the modern oils.

Vegetable Oils: The Oxidation Equation ​

In the early 1900s, before the soybean introduction, vegetable oils were available for culinary use, but they looked much different than today. Seed oils were cold-pressed in dark warehouses and delivered in dark brown bottles in the wee hours of the morning—much like the milkmen we know of today. These oils were so volatile to oxidation that any light exposure would accelerate their rancidity.

Today, vegetable seed oils are industrially processed and oxidized to such an extent that for commercial cooking oils to have a stable shelf life, all the nutrients and protective antioxidants in the seed are processed out. These vegetable seed oils are boiled to over 400° Fahrenheit, denatured, bleached, and then deodorized because they smell so bad after processing. Contrary to the oils pressed and sold in dark rooms and dark bottles, today’s seed oils are void of the nutrients that once graced the seeds, so they can be sold 24/7 in clear plastic bottles in fully lit grocery stores.

Highly processed high linoleic acid vegetable oils are so stable, they use them to preserve food and extend shelf life. You will find them all in packaged food in the middle of your grocery store. Linoleic acids are so fully oxidized that not only are they toxic and damaging to the arterial wall, but intestinal microbes that typically feed on essential fatty acids and fiber won’t touch them.

Bread, for example, years ago would get hard and stale in just one day, making your local baker a regular stop on your shopping list. Today, breads stay soft for months thanks to highly processed vegetable oils used to extend shelf life—but not your life.

Beneficial microbes ingest good fats, but if microbes will not eat the processed fats in your bread, your bread will not go bad or mold. But when you eat the processed bread, those same microbes now in your gut won’t eat or digest them either. All the indigestible omega-6 fats end up in the liver to be broken down as toxic waste or stored in your fat as a toxic waste dump.

Vegetable Oils + PUFAs: How do Oxidation + Free Radicals Impact Our Health?

Vegetable cooking oils were once touted as heart healthy replacements for butter and lard. Unfortunately, they are the newest culprit in today’s rising levels of heart disease.

lifespa.com

 

[ELT]

But speaking about the problem of oxidation of omega 3's, Venturi thinks that he found a solution for it. Here is a chapter from the same book: Iodine, PUFAs and Iodolipids in Health and Diseases: An Evolutionary Perspective

The link doesn't lead anywhere, what was the the solution according to him, please ?

Dr. Rowan’s article is another exercise for splitting the wheat from the chaff. He brings interesting arguments for the natural role of low conversion rate from ALA to EPA/DHA, but is far stretched on this one.

Now lump those early humans together with our closest cousins in nature today. Were they eating cold-water fish? Modern apes, with digestive tracts similar to ours, are nearly 100% vegetarian. The early humans would have had NO access to omega 3 rich fish in Africa. So, logically, our need for consumption of marine oil and its supplements must be low, and the conversion of PEOs to the LCPUFAs as designed by the Creator must be for a reason.

Even if apes have "similar digestive tracts" to ours (which I’m not even sure about), they still haven’t developed the same brains as humans…

Well, not everybody agrees that human beings were created or evolved on the plains of Africa. I mentioned one book that talks about that topic.

In addition to your point:
As he argues, it seems fair that we shouldn’t consume excessive Omega 3s, nor be deficient in Omega 6s - as much as the way round is valid.

However, doesn’t he contradict himself here ?

The French cook their food in BUTTER! Butter has a low smoke point and can’t be heated too high, risking the taste, and which would destroy other crucial nutrients like happens with the high heat of vegetable oil cooked food. Butter smokes around 160 C. Vegetable oils smoke at much higher temperatures, enabling far greater heat alteration of molecules into forms never found in nature.

But then :

[In India] Yet we were shocked to see advanced vascular diseases and diabetes in otherwise young (30’s) and slender people

The Indians cook their food to oblivion IN OIL—Highly unsaturated (and therefore heat vulnerable) mustard oil to be specific! Hence, they have totally destroyed the nutritional content of their food while ingesting absolutely toxic oil. An oil that would be better off brushed on their furniture like shellac—boiled (heated) linseed (flax) oil. Flax oil is widely consumed, even as a supplement. But look at what heat does to it by applying some to a piece of wood and feel it get tacky like plastic overnight. That’s exactly what happens in your body with the oxidation of oils! Yes, you should be very concerned if you have been consuming marine / fish oil supplements

So he first says that vegetable oils are able to handle "far greater heat alteration" than butter, yet he proposes that the very same oils (from seeds, so well vegetable oils) caused the vascular diseases and diabetes in young indians...
He finally brings the fish oil in the picture, coming out of nowhere...
I don't grasp the logic here, have I misinterpreted something ?

 

[ELT]

The link doesn't lead anywhere, what was the the solution according to him, please ?

Was it the same as the one you referenced later ? With adding Oleic Acids for better absorbtion of the derivatives ?

The solution lies in creating the emulsion with proper lipid ratio that will form reverse cubic crystal phase.

Thanks for all your research and explanation anyway. While reading, I kept telling myself that there was hence more truth behind the traditional habit of eating fish with olive oil, than only for the taste. The only mistake (from childhood memories) was to cook with the latter. I'll pour it on the plate, cold, now.
Fascinating.

 

[Persej]

The link doesn't lead anywhere, what was the the solution according to him, please ?

I think it was the iodine. https://www.researchgate.net/public...205_2014_Part_2_S_Venturi_M_Venturi_2014_LINK

Even if apes have "similar digestive tracts" to ours (which I’m not even sure about), they still haven’t developed the same brains as humans…

True.

So he first says that vegetable oils are able to handle "far greater heat alteration" than butter, yet he proposes that the very same oils (from seeds, so well vegetable oils) caused the vascular diseases and diabetes in young indians...
He finally brings the fish oil in the picture, coming out of nowhere...
I don't grasp the logic here, have I misinterpreted something ?

Obviously, there is no logic in his thinking. Let me quote Wikipedia about smoke point:

Oxidative stability is how resistant an oil is to reacting with oxygen, breaking down and potentially producing harmful compounds while exposed to continuous heat. Oxidative stability is the best predictor of how an oil behaves during cooking.

The oxidative stability does not directly correspond to the smoke point and thus the latter cannot be used as a reference for safe and healthy cooking.

Smoke point - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Was it the same as the one you referenced later ? With adding Oleic Acids for better absorbtion of the derivatives ?

No. Adding oleic acid for better absorption comes from the studies on digestion of breast milk, which is considered a golden standard in human nutrition in the formative period.

Thanks for all your research and explanation anyway. While reading, I kept telling myself that there was hence more truth behind the traditional habit of eating fish with olive oil, than only for the taste. The only mistake (from childhood memories) was to cook with the latter. I'll pour it on the plate, cold, now.
Fascinating.

Yeah, it's fascinating when you take a broad perspective of those things. For example, human beings cannot easily digest the oil of cold water fish, so perhaps the warm water fish were even better for humans, even though they had lower levels of omega 3. Or human beings learned to mix the fish oil with other types of oils for better digestion. Weston Price was mixing the cod liver oil with butter oil. He thought that butter had some activating factor in it, which probably had, but perhaps by making such a mixture he was also making an oil that is also more easily digested.

But even he proved that you don't have to eat fish to have a healthy offspring, if you consume animal fats from animals that were fed on fresh grass, preferably in spring and autumn. And what does the grass in spring and autumn has? Answer: among other things, a lot of PUFAs, both omega 6 and omega 3. Also, wild animals have much more PUFAs than domestic animals. So you don't need to eat fish to have plenty of PUFAs in your body, but you do need to feed the animals with fresh grass because UV light destroys many things, including the PUFAs.

There is also a topic of modern humans not eating organs of animals, which can be very rich with omega 3, brain included.

BTW, I think that you can cook and bake with olive oil, just not fry with it.

 

[ELT]

Maybe it will be a bit off topic but connected to the passage that @Persej shared. It reminded be about something I read a while ago. It is called Dark room therapy. Here is a link with more information bellow:

What is Dark Therapy? A Beginner's Guide

Truffle Report looks into the history and science behind Dark Therapy.

truffle.report

Basically a practitioner sit in totally dark room. The longer practioner stays in the dark room the more melatonin the brain produces. Once the melatonin reaches critical mass, then the brain converts it to other human psychedelic chemical like DMT. For the very least that is what Mantak Chia from the article above claims. For the very least the dark room therapy is nothing new in the west. Wikipedia:

Dark therapy - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I have never done it, but the experiences that usually someone gets as describe seems to correlate a bit with what the Cs wrote.

This may indeed be redirected to the melatonin thread.

I recently started to meditate in a full dark room, mainly for practical reasons, to be able to sleep directly after. With 2-3 sessions at hand, I indeed noticed deeper experiences of connection to the Self. I supposed and felt it was partly due to the losing of most of the physical benchmarks, kind of dismantling the boundaries between the physical plane and beyond as there is almost no perception of the first. Space&time aren't there anymore.

This possibility of increased melatonin converted to other psychedelics brings other elements to an explanation.