AJCC April 2000

Update On Omega III Fatty Acids Books

Dan Murphy, DC, D.A.B.C.O.

Dan Murphy graduated magna cum laude from Western States Chiropractic College in 1978, and has more than 20 years of practice experience. He received Diplomat status in Chiropractic Orthopedics in 1986. Since 1982, Dr. Murphy has served part-time as undergraduate faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, currently teaching classes to seniors in the management of spinal disorders. Dr. Murphy is on the post-graduate faculty of several chiropractic colleges. His post-graduate continuing education classes include "Whiplash and Spinal Trauma" and "Pain Neurology". Dr. Murphy is the coordinator of a year-long certification program in "Chiropractic Spinal Trauma", now (2000) in its twelfth year of being offered. This year the program is being offered through the International Chiropractors Association of California. He has taught more than 700 post-graduate continuing education seminars. Dr. Murphy is a contributing author to the book Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries, published by Aspen, 1996; and to the book Pediatric Chiropractic, published by Williams & Wilkins, 1998. He writes a quarterly column in the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic. In 1987, 1991 and 1995 Dr. Murphy received the Post-graduate Educator of the Year award, given by the International Chiropractic Association. In 1997 he received The Carl S. Cleveland, Jr., Educator of the Year award, given by the International Chiropractic Association of California.

Since 1992, I have been sporadically attending Neurology Diplomate class. In these classes I have learned much about how chiropractic adjustments affect the brain, and how the brain affects the spine and viscera. Possibly the most important thing I have learned is the concept of synaptogenesis/neuroplasticity. There are entire books written on the topic of synaptogenesis/neuroplasticity, with thousands of references.

In super-simple form, a neuron is a cell with a nucleus. The nucleus of the cell contains a complete compliment of an individual’s DNA. (A good book on DNA is DNA Simplified II by Farkas, 1999). When a neuron is fired, the DNA is activated and expressed by transcribing mRMA which is then translated into protein. This protein then becomes a portion of the membrane of that neuron. If the neuron is fired with an adequate frequency, the protein created will become a portion of a dendritic extension, creating an additional synapse, or synaptogenesis/neuroplasticity. This increases the efficiency of the function of that neuron. Practice may not make an activity perfect, but practice does increase the efficiency of the practiced activity. This increase in efficiency of an activity is from synaptogenesis/neuroplasticity.

In 1990, educational psychologist Jane Healy wrote Endangered Minds. This book discusses critical aspects of infant and childhood synaptogenesis/neuroplasticity as being dependent upon the quality, quantity, and timing of sensory stimulation. The greatest potential for a human is dependent upon the quality, quantity, and timing of sensory stimulation. Her book also discusses how inappropriate or poor quality, quantity, or timing of sensory stimulation can harm an individual’s potential through adverse synaptogenesis/neuroplasticity.

In 1997, Chiropractor Michael Schmidt wrote Smart Fats, How Dietary Fats and Oils Affect Mental, Physical and Emotional Intelligence. In this book, Dr. Schmidt reiterates that one’s mental, physical and emotional development are dependent upon synaptogenesis that is driven by appropriate sensory stimuli. But most importantly, he makes it clear that 60% of the brain, including sensory stimuli driven synaptogenesis, is composed of fat. He also makes it clear that some fats in the nerve cell membrane impair nerve cell function, while other fats improve nerve cell function.

The worse fats are trans-fatty acids (hydrogenated vegetable oils) and saturated fats (animal derived fats). The best fats are Omega III essential fatty acids. Omega III essential fatty acids are termed “essential” because our bodies cannot make them. They must be ingested in the diet.

I believe that Dr. Schmidt’s books is one of the most important books I have read. The book has many applications to chiropractic as a adjunct to the neurological stimulation initiated by chiropractic adjustments, for the inflammatory aspects of pain syndromes, and for patient advice for a host of clinical and subclinical syndromes that affect the patients chiropractors contact in daily practice.

In 1998, Joel Kremer (Professor of Medicine and Head of Rheumatology at Albany Medical College, New York) edited Medicinal Fatty Acids in Inflammation (Birkhauser Verlag). This book contains ample biochemistry. It primarily reviews the evidence for the relationship

between Omega III fatty acids a specific diagnosed clinical entities, including phagocyte function, psoriasis, autoimmune diseases, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and a type of nephropathy.

Dr. Kremer states: “This volume is a unique assembly of contributions focusing on the

biochemical, immunological and clinical benefits of n-3 fatty acids in inflammation.” “It is fascinating that dietary alterations of fatty acid intake can result in a range of salutory changes in a great variety of medical conditions.” “Recent analysis of fat intake from paleolithic times has indicated that our hunter-gatherer ancestors consumed as much cholesterol as modern

Western man, but strikingly less saturated fatty acid and more polyunsaturates, including n-3 fatty acids.”

“Wild game has the terrestrial source of n-3 incorporated in its fat since browsing animals derive 18:3n-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) naturally from leafy plants." “There is, however, little opportunity for modern Western man to get n-3 fatty acids from the diet if one does not consume fish.” “Modern agribusiness provides animal feeds high in n-6 fatty acids, mostly derived from linoleic acid in corn feed. Therefore, grazing animals have no access to alternative fatty acids in either feed or grasses, the latter containing little or none of these potentially beneficial highly polyunsaturated fatty acids.”

“We have, as a species, passed the overwhelming majority of our time evolving with foods containing n-3 fatty acids only to have them removed in the last 200 years.” “Some have speculated that the prevalence of inflammatory diseases has increased during this same time interval as a direct result the change in our dietary intake of fatty acids.”

“Only the lipid content of the diet is reflected in the basic structure of the cell. The phospholipid component of the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane is determined by dietary fatty acid intake. Thus diets rich in n-3 or n-6 fatty acids including gammalinoleic acid (GLA) will result in the incorporation of these fatty acids into the plasma membrane.”

“Inflammatory diseases must be added to atherosclerosis and malignancy in an expanding listing of medical conditions which can unequivocally be affected by diet.”

In 1997, University of Mississippi neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock wrote Excitotoxins, The Taste That Kills. In this book Dr. Blaylock presents the evidence to support that commonly added food taste enhancers like glutamate and asparatate (and all of their varied forms and hidden

terminology) are actually excitatory neurotransmitters. When ingested, they cross the blood brain barrier, and initiate free radical brain nerve cell injury, dysfunction, and death. This results in a host of diagnosed conditions that fall under the label of “neurodegenerative diseases,” including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s, and many more.

Dr. Blaylock also notes that anit-inflammatory medication gives the brain a measurable protective effect, as a common thread in excitotoxic nerve cell injury and death is inflammation. Long term pharmacologic anti-inflammation medication can have deleterious effects on one’s

gastrointestinal tract, liver, and kidneys. Consequently, he advocates the daily ingestion of Omega III fatty acids, as they are powerfully anti-inflammatory and carry none of the adverse effects of medication.

In 1999, Brown University Professor of Medicine Kevin Vigilante wrote Low-Fat Lies, High-Fat Frauds. In this book he presents the evidence on why the Mediterranean Diet is the healthiest diet in the world.

In the book, Dr. Vigilante notes that the body can't manufacture polyunsaturated fats. Yet, they are needed to make important hormone-like substances called prostaglandins. Polyunsaturated fats also lower LDL cholesterol and may impart healthy fluidity to cell membranes.

“There is even a polyunsaturated fat that, for complicated reasons, seems positively good for you. This fat, called alpha-linolenic acid or omega-3 fatty acid, is the active ingredient in fish oil and whale blubber that probably helps keep the Japanese and the Eskimos so healthy. Famous for their role in preventing heart disease, omega-3 fatty acids seem to have cancer-fighting properties as well.”

This year (2000), Andrew Weil, MD. authored Eating Well For Optimum Health, The Essential Guide to Food. Diet, and Nutrition. In this book, Dr. Weil notes: Plants can synthesize omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, but animals cannot because they lack the appropriate enzymes. Therefore, animals need to eat both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for important functions

and will become sick and die without them. One must have them in their diet regularly to live and be healthy.

Dr. Weil notes that fish like salmon and sardines are important sources of omega-3 fatty acids as are egg yolks. However, fish and chickens cannot manufacture omega-3 fatty acids any more humans can. Salmon and sardines get omega-3s by eating algae and other simple forms of plant life that make omega-3s, then store them in their body fat. Chickens in the wild can find plant sources of omega-3s to put in the yolks of their eggs. When salmon and chickens are farmed, the omega-3 content of foods derived from them is determined by what they get to eat. Consequently their omega-3 content is much inferior to that of wild salmon or chickens.

Animals deprived of these essential fatty acids in experiments develop skin inflammation, hair loss, liver and kidney degeneration, decreased healing response, increased susceptibility to infection, cardiovascular problems, behavioral disturbances, arthritis, growth retardation, weakness, lack of coordination, behavioral changes, and impairment of learning ability and, eventually, death. These symptoms are reverse when essential fats are restored to the diet. Essential fats are critical to the integrity and function of cell membranes, and that they are the

starting materials for the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are hormones that govern many basic life processes, including the healing response.

There is growing medical awareness that essential fatty acid deficiency may be widespread and very detrimental to both physical and mental well-being, including atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Most animals raised for food today, including chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep, no longer graze in the wild. Instead, most are fattened with grains such as corn that do not provide omega-3s. Also, people take in a lot of their fat in the form of vegetable oils and products like margarine made from them, which do not contain omega-3’s.

“DHA is the main structural component of cell membranes in the brain. If it is deficient in the body, especially during late fetal development and early infant life, weakened architecture of the central nervous system may result, impairing learning ability, intelligence, and other aspects of mental function.”

“Researchers are exploring the connection between omega-3 fatty acid deficiency and such conditions as autism, attention deficit disorder, and depression. Yet another possibility is that brains deficient in DHA are more susceptible to toxic injury that may result in degenerative diseases of later life such as Parkinson's disease, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease), and Alzheimer's disease.”

Lastly, my favorite book on this topic this year (2000) is Your Miracle Brain by Jean Carper. Chapter 3, titled “Amazing New Ways Fish Oil Saves Your Brain.” In this book, quoting others, Ms. Carper points out: Dietary omega-3 essential fats, has injected vitality into human

brains. It is the stuff that enabled us to finally rise above the other species and create rich civilizations. For millions of years, evolution of our brain was stuck at a small size of 400-500 grams, about a pound, because early human was mostly landlocked and therefore lacking the omega-3 fat from seafood needed to spur brain cell growth.

“Eating seafood with omega-3-type fat was the nutritional stimulus needed to produce huge jumps in brain size and brainpower, tripling brain weight to the current three pounds. With it came a new rush of human achievements.”

Unfortunately, today brain capacity is no longer increasing, but actually going down. “The current reduction in omega-3 consumption correlates with an upsurge in brain dysfunction, more mental disease, and lower IQs. Mental defects are on the rise. In short, the evolution of the human brain is in reverse; our brains are now very slowly shrinking. And this trend will continue, unless we return to the omega-3-rich brain-stimulating diets of our early Paleolithic ancestors.”

The omega-3 fish oil called DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), is the building material for synaptic communication centers. “You can't create more synapses, dendrites, or receptors that increase your brain's potential without a robust supply of DHA type omega 3-fish oil.”

“The type fat you eat changes the tiny structures of brain cells. This minor change, when

multiplied by the billions, alters your brain functioning and consequent behavior.” “In short, modifying the chemical composition of tiny fat molecules in your brain cells can quietly, quickly, and profoundly alter your internal self, your identity, who you really are -- how you feel. think, and behave.”

In closing, I believe that the innate diet is one that includes regular ingestion of omega-3 essential fatty acids. They are especially critical for the development and function of our nervous system and brain. It appears that the educated human has removed omega-3 essential fatty acids from our diets, primarily for the purposed of convenience and profit. I believe that the primary effects of a chiropractic adjustment are neurological. Neurological function is dependent upon omega-3 essential fatty acids. Consequently, I believe that understanding and incorporation of omega-3 essential fatty acids into chiropractic clinical advice will enhance the neurological benefits of the adjustment, benefiting the patient, the society, and the species.