Mike Adams, a patriot who is courageous and brilliant, is right about a lot of things regarding health, but he is entirely wrong about omega-6 fatty acids.
He posted this article recently stating that omega-6 oils are toxic. https://news360.com/article/496321555
Yes, he used that word, “toxic” but in fact, it is the omega-3 fatty acids which are toxic, especially when taken in excess! (more about excess dosages later!)
Executive Summary:
Of course most of the studies of omega-6 fatty acids were done on already rancid, hydrogenated, vegetable oils aka canola or rapeseed oil, and a child’s logic would remind you that if you start with an oxidized product, you will end up with an oxidized inflammatory rancid product. But if you start with non-rancid, non-hydrogenated, non-adulterated organic non-GMO seed oils (raw seeds create our omega-6 fatty acids) then none of the bad rap which Mike and other talks about stick.
Let’s summarize: Omega-3 (fish and krill) and omega-6 (seeds and vegetable) oils comes from parent essential oils – essential meaning if you don’t eat them, you won’t have them. The body can’t manufacture these omega-3 and omega 6 oils, so supplementation is essential. The parent omega-6 oil is called linoleic acid (LA) and the parent omega 3 oil is called alpha linolenic acid (ALA).
How to Supplement: In the case of omega-3 (fish and krill) oils, the popular form of supplementation is EPA and DHA whereas in the case of omega-6 fatty oils, the derivatives are gamma linoleic acid (GLA – substrate for PGE1 – the body’s most powerful anti-inflammatory agent and a vasodilator) and arachidonic acid (AA – the substrate for PGI2, the body’s most powerful blood thinner/ platelet anti-aggregator/anti-adhesive/vasodilator.
The brain and entire nervous system is composed of fatty acids – but in this case there are 100x more omega-6 compared to omega-3. So what do you give Grandfather for his dementia or Billy for his autism? Not omega-3. Give the parent of Omega 6 – in particular arachidonic acid (AA) which is essential for normal neurological development and function. Best source of AA for infants? Breast milk! (why would it be there if it were toxic).
From Wikipedia:
“Arachidonic acid is one of the most abundant fatty acids in the brain, and is present in similar quantities to docosahexaenoic acid(DHA). The two account for about 20% of its fatty-acid content.[22] Like DHA, neurological health is reliant upon sufficient levels of arachidonic acid. Among other things, arachidonic acid helps to maintain hippocampal cell membrane fluidity.[23] It also helps protect the brain from oxidative stress by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma.[24] ARA also activates syntaxin-3 (STX-3), a protein involved in the growth and repair of neurons.[25]
Arachidonic acid is also involved in early neurological development. In one study, infants (18 months) given supplemental arachidonic acid for 17 weeks demonstrated significant improvements in intelligence, as measured by the Mental Development Index.[26] This effect is further enhanced by the simultaneous supplementation of ARA with DHA.
In adults, the disturbed metabolism of ARA may contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and bipolar disorder.[27] There is evidence of significant alterations in the conversion of arachidonic acid to other bioactive molecules (overexpression or disturbances in the ARA enzyme cascade) in these conditions.”
As for skin, have you every rubbed fish oil on your skin? Of course not. Why? Because the skin has 1000x more omega-6 compared to omega-3. But seed oils are easily absorbed and deliver reinforcement for skin structure so topical application of seed oils is wonderful.. Want fabulous skin? Use seed oils orally and also topically.
What is wrong with omega-3 fatty acid? Well I want you to appreciate the fact that what I am telling you is a minority opinion. There is a huge amount of research endorsing fish oil but it is poor quality. Fish oil, after all, is the #1 selling nutritional supplement in the world. Ask Mike Adams…
Most of what follows immediately here I learned from Brian Peskin’s book The Peo Solution page 243-258 .
12 Way that Fish Oil Fails.
Problem #1: DHA and EPA from fish or krill oil are typically dosed at toxic over-dose levels of 20x what the body requires. When this happens, fish oil displaces the beneficial oils and increases dementia risk.
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/21130294
and
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131028135035.htm
Problem #2 fish oil fails to prevent Alzheimer dementia.
Quinn at all wrote: “Conclusion: Supplementation with DHA compared with placebo did not slow the rate of cognitive and functional decline in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21045096
Problem #3 Fish oil erodes your vision and enhances risk of developing macular degeneration.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26610051
Problem #4: Fish oil interferes with blood sugar regulation and worsens risk of diabetes.
Glauber reports: “Omega-3 fatty acid treatment in type II diabetes leads to rapid but reversible metabolic deterioration, with elevated basal hepatic glucose output and impaired insulin secretion but unchanged glucose disposal rates. Caution should be used when recommending omega-3 fatty acids in type II diabetic persons.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3282462
Problem #5: Fish oil increase the risk of colon cancer.
https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2010/fish-oil-linked-to-increased-risk-of-colon-cancer-in-mice/
Problem #6: Fish oil, a pro-aging element, negatively impacts mitochondrial function – makes us all tired. Fish oil acts like a rag stuffed in the exhaust pipe of a car. Sluggish uptake as the engine suffocates.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2123344
Problem #7: Fish oil accelerates aging and increases oxidative stress – it compromises the cell membrane and suffocates the cell. Tsuduki comments: CONCLUSION: “These findings suggest that intake of fish oil increases oxidative stress, decreases cellular function, and causes organ dysfunction in SAMP8 mice, thereby promoting aging and shortening the lifespan of the mice.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20621447
Problem #8: Fish oil does not reduce the risk of heart disease
https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/fish-oil-supplements-no-help-heart-or-brain
Problem #9: Fish oil fails to prevent all cancers
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3780443/
Problem #10: Fish oil adversely effects chemotherapy
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1535610811003072
Problem # 11 fish oil increases risk of prostate cancer.
https://cancer.org/latest-news/omega-3-fatty-acids-linked-to-increase-in-prostate-cancer-risk.html
Problem #12: Fish oil does not prevent autism.
Dr. James writes “To date, there is no high quality evidence that omega-3 fatty acids supplementation is effective for improving core and associated symptoms of autism (ASD)”.
https://www.cochrane.org/CD007992/BEHAV_omega-3-fatty-acids-for-autism-spectrum-disorders-asd
Before I go farther, let’s call attention to two facts: 1) fish oil is the highest selling nutritional supplement in the world and 2) most of the research supporting its benefits are not, as the Cochran group reports, “high quality evidence”. Lots of evidence- just not a lot of high quality research. This is a quantity vs. quality issues. Most of the published research supporting fish oil is poor quality and primarily advertising. remember: science is not a committee affair and truth is truth despite “experts” railing against it.
In contrast, omega-6 fatty acids (seed oils) are much healthier and, in fact, the basic science describing unadulterated non-rancid omega-6 seed oils and its clinical benefits are astonishing and life-saving.
In contrast to the debacle which we see to be fish and krill oil, the fact is that Omega-6 EFA aid everything which omega-3s fails to aid. For example, whereas omega-3 fatty acids suffocate cells by clogging up the cell membranes, omega-6 fatty acids actively transport oxygen into the cell and the cells need oxygen. If you deprive a healthy cell of 1/3 of its oxygen allowance, it becomes cancerous. Cancer patients apply topical omega-6 seed oils on skin cancer lesions and reverse the cancer process while minimizing their pain.
For more benefits of omega-6 over omega-3, scan this summary: https://weeksmd.com/2019/02/rethink-omega-6-seed-oils/
You are made of oil. The riveting book Mad in America which clarifies that America’s 40 year folly teaching everyone to eat “low fat” has been driving us all crazy. Have you ever heard the phrase “like oil on troubled water”? This phrase describes the calming effect that oil has on rough water. Tiny quantities of oil can spread out over very large water surface because the oil slick is only a few molecules thick. Pliny in ancient Greece experimented with oil on the water to create safer sailing conditions and instructed the admirals that when a boat was seeking to enter a harbor and the waves are too rough, they should crack a cask of olive oil and toss it overboard. Now the water was calmed and the wind aided rather than terrified the sailors. This is a trick used by the Nantucket whalers also more than 1000 years later. What that tells us is that oil also calms the human being. All psychiatric ailments are disruptions of oil (fatty acid) metabolism manifesting inflammation.
What to do? Well, according to Peskin, it takes 18 weeks to detoxify from fish oil. (Not fish. Fish oil). That is the exact time frame which corresponded to the improvement in vascular function in the IOWA screening experiment. What are you doing for the next 18 weeks? Try it – you’ll like it. Just say “No” to fish oil. Eat the seed which, if unadulatered, is the source of healthy healing omega-6 fatty acids to detox you from overdoing on omega-3 fish oil.
I have been extremely fortunate to have had two superb mentors over the years as regards fatty acids. The first was David Horrobin, a saint-like doctor and scientist whose courage and initiative saved thousands of lives and whose personal encouragement to me is something I will treasure to my grave. The second scientist is Brian Peskin, who is perhaps the world’s expert in membrane physiology and whose good natured patience with my frequent questions is also a treasure. But ultimately we all have to think for ourselves. “Show me the data!”you are asking…
I recommend that anyone interested in the relative merits of these essential fatty acids read about Peskin’s work herehttps://weeksmd.com/2019/02/rethink-omega-6-seed-oils/ and for more details, at his website (http://www.PEO-Solution.com) where you will find many scientific references. Best of all? Read his superb book: “The Peo Solution – Conquering Cancer Diabetes and Heart Disease with Parent Essential Oils”.)
I used to give all my patients fish or krill oil. I did that for 25 years until I understood the science. I wish I could apologize to them all now, but they would forgive me knowing that I did the best I knew at the time! Now, I tell people that the revolution in nutrition is to “Eat the Seed” as long as it is raw, organic and non-GMO. These seed oils are not inflammatory as pseudo-scientists allege. As noted above the human body’s most powerful ANTI-inflammatory agent PGE1 – an omega-6 metabolite.
Unadulterated, non-rancid, omega-6 fatty acids have been unfairly smeared by non-scientific people who don’t carefully read the research and usually have something to sell you.