Dr. Mercola March 12 2007 3,995 views
Seems conventional medicine is really beginning to appreciate how omega-3 fats can protect and develop bones, according to this study about the role fatty acids play in building the bone mineral density of young men.
Researchers evaluated the bone health (hip, spine and body) and measured the concentrations of fatty acids in 78 teenage men over an eight-year span.
No surprise, concentrations of omega-3 fats were associated with positive bone mineral densities. Moreover, docosahexaenoic acid -- better known as DHA -- was linked to better total bone densities, particularly in the spine, as well as positive changes at the spine between ages 16-22.
This conclusion merely underscores the results of a study I posted two years ago in which higher ratios of omega-6 fats were tied to lower bone densities. Unfortunately, the diets of most patients are weighted heavily toward omega-6 fats, no doubt due to surviving on fast-food diets that do no one, save big business, any good.
In addition to increasing your consumption of vegetables, based on your body's unique nutritional type, the secret weapon that protects your bones while balancing your levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fats is taking a high quality fish oil or krill oil.
Another factor often not mentioned in many of these papers is that saturated fatty acids enhance the absorption and metabolism of omega-3 fatty acids through the delta-6-desaturase (D6D) pathway. I expect it would be considered scientific heresy for these researchers to back down on their erroneous position on natural saturated fats. Omega-6 fats compete through this same pathway, so the typical US diet which commonly includes ratios of 20-40:1 of omega-6 to omega-3 is going to lead to omega-3 deficiency, however much fish or fish oil an individual consumes. The deadly USDA Diet Pyramid suggests a ratio of 12:1 which in the context of a diet low in saturated fat would render the omega-3 unusable[1]. The optimum ratio should be no more than 4:1[2]. It is unfortunate that many people think that simply supplementing with omega-3, vitamins, antioxidants and so forth will protect them from an unhealthy diet when the right conditions (i.e. healthy unprocessed food diet – with minimal sugar and no refined PVOs) are necessary for proper absorption and utilisation of said supplements. This factor would also explain the inconsistent findings in studies comparing fish consumption.
1. Mohrhauer, H. and R.T. Holman, Effect of Linolenic Acid Upon the Metabolism of Linoleic Acid. J Nutr, 1963. 81: p. 67-74.
2. Yehuda, S. and R.L. Carasso, Modulation of learning, pain thresholds, and thermoregulation in the rat by preparations of free purified alpha-linolenic and linoleic acids: determination of the optimal omega 3-to-omega 6 ratio. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1993. 90(21): p. 10345-9.