Sunday, March 20, 2011

Fats & Oils

Phosphatidylcholine

Phosphatidylcholine is a phospholipid that makes up 50% of the cell membrane. The membrane is the lining of every nerve cell that carries our signals. We are trying to heal the brain by growing new neurons and allowing them to fire. Giving PC is like bringing the bricks to the construction site when building a house.

Formulated with a 4:1 Ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 in Liquid form or Softgel pills.

Of the tens of thousands of molecules that make up the life of a cell, Phosphatidylcholine (PC) stands apart; probably the most important one of all. BodyBio PC is made of only pure phospholipids which automatically form liposomes in the watery environment of the body, but it goes one important step further....it is also formulated with the essential lipids at a 4:1 ratio. Most PC currently available has an EFA ratio of ~12:1. BodyBio PC not only has a higher concentration of PC, up to 66% but also maintains EFA concentration at the preferred 4:1 ratio, a BodyBio exclusive. (online at bodybio.com)

Here's a great article on Q's blog: Fats & Oils

Body Bio Balanced Oil

Body Bio Balanced Oil is included to reduce inflammation so that we reduce the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. It was shown in 2004 that reducing inflammation in the brain of the DS mouse prevented neuron loss and delayed decline of function. (online at bodybio.com)

The fallacy of using DHA alone for brain [health]
by Dr. Barry Sears

I am constantly amazed by the lack of understanding by neurologists of basic
essential fatty acid biochemistry in the treatment of brain trauma and
concussions. They often blindly believe that the only omega-3 fatty acid that
has any impact in the treatment of concussions is DHA alone. Their blind faith
is based on the observation that you find a lot of DHA in the brain and little
EPA. This obviously means that EPA must not be important for brain function.
This is similar to stating the world is flat because it appears that way to the
naked eye.

I have mentioned many times in my books that EPA and DHA have different
functions, and that’s why you need both of these essential omega-3 fatty acids
(1-4). This is especially true for the brain. EPA produces most of the
anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 fatty acids since it’s structurally
similar to arachidonic acid (AA) as they both contain 20 carbon atoms with
approximately the same spatial configuration. As a result, EPA can inhibit
the enzymes that would otherwise produce pro-inflammatory eicosanoids from AA.
It is AA that generates the inflammation caused by brain trauma. DHA, on the
other hand, is primarily a structural component of neural tissue. They do
different jobs, and that’s why you need both in combination.

So why isn’t there as much EPA in the brain compared to DHA? The reason is
simple. EPA enters the brain just as quickly as DHA, but it is rapidly
oxidized, whereas DHA is sent off to long-term storage in neural tissue (5-7).
The lifetime of DHA in the human brain is measured in years, whereas the
lifetime of the EPA is measured in days. So obviously when you kill an animal
and look at the brain, you are not going to find very much EPA.

What complicates the issue is that if you only treat a concussion with DHA,
some of the DHA will be converted to EPA. This gives the appearance that DHA
is working to reduce inflammation. Since brain trauma and concussions generate
inflammation in the brain, doesn’t it make more sense to provide as much EPA as possible to reduce the inflammation as opposed to supplementing only with DHA and hoping some fraction of it will be converted to EPA?

To answer that question, it is useful to look at two recent studies that used
the same protocol to study inflammation induced by a concussion injury (8,9).
The same total amount of omega-3 fatty acids was used to treat the animals
after the concussion injury. One experiment used a 2:1 ratio of EPA to DHA,
and the other experiment used only DHA. If the DHA was so important, then the
animals treated with the DHA alone should have demonstrated three times the
reduction of neuro-inflammation compared to the group that received omega-3
fatty acids containing only one-third as much DHA.

In fact, just the opposite was the case. The 2:1 EPA/DHA group demonstrated
greater benefits compared to the DHA-alone group in reducing neuro-inflammation induced by a concussion. Why? EPA is a far more powerful anti-inflammatory agent than DHA. This is why in both studies the AA/EPA ratio was used as the marker of inflammation induced by the concussion injury. Since the AA/EPA ratio was decreased in both studies, this meant that some of the pure DHA was converted to EPA providing at least some anti-inflammatory actions. Thus giving 100 percent DHA is not exactly the most efficient way to decrease neuro-inflammation induced by a concussion injury. This is further emphasized by a recent study that indicated that 1 gram of DHA per day for an 18-month period had no impact in the cognitive improvement of Alzheimer’s patients (10), even though Alzheimer’s is known to be a neuro-inflammatory disease (11).

Does this mean that DHA is not important for brain repair? Of course not. This
is because you need both EPA and DHA for optimal repair of brain damage after a concussion. You need the EPA to reduce the neuro-inflammation, and you need the DHA to help rebuild new neurons. But to give DHA alone without additional EPA to maximally reduce neuro-inflammation caused by concussions simply makes no sense.

Dr. Barry Sears is a neurologist and expert on inflammation at the cellular
level.


<http://blog.zonehealth.com/2011/05/the-fallacy-of-using-dha-alone-for-brain-trauma/>



References
1. Sears B. “The Zone.” Regan Books. New York, NY (1995)
2. Sears B. “The OmegaRx Zone.” Regan Books. New York, NY (2002)
3. Sears B. “The Anti-inflammation Zone.” Regan Books. New York, NY (2005)
4. Sears B. “Toxic Fat.” Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN (2008)
5. Chen CT, Liu Z, and Bazinet RP. “Rapid de-esterification and loss of
eicosapentaenoic acid from rat brain phospholipids: an intracerebroventricular
study.” J Neurochem 116: 363-373 (2011)
6. Chen CT, Liu Z, Ouellet M, Calon F, and Bazinet RP. “Rapid beta-oxidation
of eicosapentaenoic acid in mouse brain: an in situ study. “Prostaglandins
Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 80: 157-163 (2009)
7. Umhau JC, Zhou W, Carson RE, Rapoport SI, Polozova A, Demar J, Hussein N,
Bhattacharjee AK, Ma K, Esposito G, Majchrzak S, Herscovitch P, Eckelman WC,
Kurdziel KA, and Salem N. “Imaging incorporation of circulating
docosahexaenoic acid into the human brain using positron emission tomography.”
J Lipid Res 50: 1259-1268 (2009)
8. Mills JD, Bailes JE, Sedney CL, Hutchins H, and Sears B. “Omega-3 fatty
acid supplementation and reduction of traumatic axonal injury in a rodent head
injury model.” J Neurosurg 114: 77-84 (2011)
9. Bailes JE and Mills JD. “Docosahexaenoic acid reduces traumatic axonal
injury in a rodent head injury model.” J Neurotrauma 27: 1617-1624 (2010)
10. Quinn JF, Raman R, Thomas RG, Yurko-Mauro K, Nelson EB, Van Dyck C, Galvin
JE, Emond J, Jack CR, Weiner M, Shinto L, and Aisen PS. “Docosahexaenoic acid
supplementation and cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease: a randomized
trial.” JAMA 304: 1903-1911 (2010)
11. Akiyama H, Barger S, Barnum S, Bradt B, Bauer J, Cole GM, Cooper NR,
Eikelenboom P, Emmerling M, Fiebich BL, Finch CE, Frautschy S, Griffin WS,
Hampel H, Hull M, Landreth G, Lue L, Mrak R, Mackenzie IR,McGeer PL, O’Banion
MK, Pachter J, Pasinetti G, Plata-Salaman C, Rogers J, Rydel R, Shen Y, Streit
W, Strohmeyer R, Tooyoma I, Van Muiswinkel FL,Veerhuis R, Walker D, Webster S,
Wegrzyniak B, Wenk G, and Wyss-Coray T. “Inflammation and Alzheimer’s
disease.” Neurobiol Aging 21: 383-421 (2000)


The fats... Jett gets tons of fats... Coconut oil, fresh avocado, Bio Body PC, fermented cod liver oil and raw/organic butter from grass fed cows... The fermented CLO & butter supports the good bacteria in Jett's stomach. Without it, he just doesn't have bowel movements...
CLO & the butter mixture also always for proper Vitamin D absorption.
 
Here's what Teresa wrote in one of the forum entries:

Oils, Oils, Oils...... this is the tough stuff of chemistry. But here goes. Dr. Kane and some very compelling research says that the perfect ratio of omega 6's to omega 3's is a 4 to 1 ratio. With that said, let me back up and try to explain what that means.
When someone says omega 3, it means that there is a double bond at the third carbon from the end. If they say, omega 6, then the first double bond is at the 6th carbon.

What body bio did is put [omega 6 -18 carbon long oil] 4x to [omega 3 - 18 carbon long] 1x ratio. this is like putting the beginning of the lipids in and then the body can add carbons to make them longer carbon chains. EPA has the first double bond at the third carbon and is 20 carbons long. DHA is 22 carbons long.

Yes, Leichtman says that flax goes rancid too quickly. I've never had this problem with this product. That is like saying I don't buy fresh fruit b/c it goes bad. All good oils (cis) go rancid. The reason they made trans oils is b/c they extended the shelf life. Right the bacteria don't want to eat plastic. Almost all things in nature are in the cis conformation. Stereochemistry. cis is a boat and trans is a chair.

Wikipedia has a good explanation of fatty acids.

So what you are doing is giving your child fatty acids that are longer than Body bio. It is not that fish oil is not recommended it is that we mess up the ratio if one takes too much fish oil. There is a theory that we eat mainly omega 6's so taking fish oil brings the ratio into balance. Good idea but somehow doesn't cut it. Taking the 4:1 BBB seems to be the key to triggering the resolvin pathway.I have attached some research on the resolution pathway. It resolves inflammation and that is what we really want.
I have attached two files. One with a picture of a phospholipid and the other research about resolvins.

Ok, so the long chains of carbons are anywhere from 16 carbons to 24 (and they can get longer and they are called very long chain fatty acids)


According to the Trisomy 21 Research Foundation recommended dosage:
5-10lbs      200mg DHA
10-15lbs    350mg DHA
20-40lbs    300mg DHA/EPA
40-60lbs    600mg DHA/EPA
60-80lbs    900mg DHA/EPA

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Fermented Cod Liver Oil
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