A Lesson in Nutrition From our Stone Age Ancestors
By Artur Klimaszewski, MD
Source: Bioriginal Publishing
Date Published: January 2000
Borage Oil and other "good" fats can help restore the
natural balance our bodies were meant to have
In 1930 scientists discovered a class of metabolites
called prostaglandins - compounds produced in the body
from dietary fats. After 70 years of research, we have
finally come to understand the significance of prostaglandins.
There have been close to 7,000 published studies on
prostaglandins and their roles in the body. This research
demonstrates that prostaglandins play very important
roles in regulating some of the most basic body functions
on a minute-to-minute basis.
Prostaglandins are extremely potent hormone-like compounds
that belong to a larger family of compounds called eicosanoids.
They fall into three classes, or "series", each of which
has specific biological effects:
"Series 1" prostaglandins
These compounds have three basic functions: they reduce
inflammation, dilate blood vessels, and inhibit blood
clotting. The strong anti-inflammatory properties help
the body recover from injury by reducing pain, swelling
and redness. The other two functions keep blood vessels
open wide, and keep blood flowing freely.
"Series 2" prostaglandins
The most prominent compounds in this group strongly
increase inflammation, constrict blood vessels, and
encourage blood clotting. These properties come into
play when the body suffers a wound or injury - without
these prostaglandins, you would bleed to death from
the slightest of cuts. However, in excess, these prostaglandins
may be harmful. Many diseases are directly linked to
excessive inflammation and blood clotting - for example,
rheumatoid arthritis and some forms of stroke and heart
attack. High levels of Series 2 prostaglandins in the
body have also been linked to other diseases including
diabetic nerve damage, high blood pressure, allergies,
skin inflammations and cancer.
"Series 3" prostaglandins
The compounds in this group are a mixed bag: some of
them dilate blood vessels, while others constrict. They
also have a weak tendency to increase inflammation and
inhibit blood clotting. In general, these are useful
defense mechanisms against trauma and infection.
The body must maintain a delicate balance between these
prostaglandins - otherwise the strong proinflammatory,
blood-vessel-constricting, and blood-clotting effects
of Series 2 will overwhelm the sytem, causing a host
of ill effects.
As important as prostaglandins are, the body has no
reliable mechanism for keeping them in balance - it
depends mostly on diet to maintain equilibrium. The
type of fat we eat has a direct impact on what type
of prostaglandins the body will produce and how much
it produces of each type.
For example, the body may produce Series 1 prostaglandins
from Linoleic Acid found in vegetable oils, margarine,
and processed foods.
The body breaks down Arachidonic Acid found in meats
and eggs into prostaglandins of Series 2. Consumption
of fish and fish oil causes the production of prostaglandins
of Series 3.
Optimal Balance
Since the diet has such a powerful influence on prostaglandins
in the body, we must determine the optimal balance and
supplement our diets to achieve that balance. What,
then, is an optimal balance of prostaglandins?
To answer this question, we must take a lesson in nutrition
from our prehistoric ancestors. Over the course of 4
million years, humans evolved into hunter-gatherers,
adapted genetically to their environment. The human
metabolism was able to continually adapt to slow changes
in diet over time.
About 10,000 years ago, however, the human diet began
to change so dramatically that evolution was not able
to keep up. In about 8,000 B.C., humans began to cultivate
crops, domesticate animals, and improve cooking and
baking techniques. Cultivation of crops severely limited
the variety of plants in the diet, while domesticated
animal meat introduced a much higher level of fat. At
the same time, newfound techniques of cooking and baking
meant that we could eat a whole new range of vegetables
- namely starches, which are undigestible when raw.
Two hundred years ago, the pace of dietary change started
to speed up even more. Humans developed mass food production
techniques and introduced numerous harsh chemicals into
the food we eat.
Genetically, we are still virtually identical to our
hunter-gatherer ancestors, yet the food we eat is far
removed. We cannot and do not want to imitate our ancestors'
diets. We simply have to understand the types of fat
their diets would have contained and deduce the levels
of prostaglandins that their bodies produced as a result.
Equipped with modern scientific tools, we may study
human remains, fossilized fecal matter, and bodies preserved
under ice or bogs. These provide clues to the kinds
of food that our prehistoric ancestors consumed. Most
of the plants and animal species they ate can still
be found today and we can analyze them for their nutritional
value. We can also analyze the diets of surviving tribes
who have resisted the adoption of "civilization" and
the modern Western diet. Finally, we can analyze the
diets of other primates and extrapolate those findings
to humans. Through these methods, we can, in fact, get
a surprisingly accurate picture of the human diet of
10,000 years ago.
The findings show that we presently eat ten times more
saturated fat and hundreds of times more trans-fatty
acids than did prehistoric humans. Such high consumption
of these "bad" fats is known to impair the metabolism
of Linoleic Acid, which, as we have seen, is the body's
main source of the beneficial prostaglandins of Series
1.
In addition, we eat far more Arachidonic Acid (in meat
and eggs) than did our ancestors, leading to high levels
of the potentially harmful Series 2 prostaglandins in
the body. Furthermore, we eat less fish, one of the
primary sources of the beneficial Series 3 prostaglandins.
In the final balance, our bodies are producing too
few beneficial prostaglandins and too many potentially
harmful prostaglandins, contributing to increasing incidences
of arthritis, diabetic nerve damage, heart attacks,
high blood pressure, allergies, skin inflammations,
and cancer.
A Supplement A Day…
We cannot change our genetics - so the key is to
tilt the scale towards Series 1 and 3 prostaglandins
through dietary supplementation with fats that the body
can easily break down into these beneficial compounds.
For Series 1, there are several plant sources the body
can use - Borage Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, and Black
Currant Oil. For Series 3, turn to Fish Oil or Flax
Oil.
To fully satisfy the body's need for production of
Series 1 prostaglandins, a healthy adult needs only
1-2 grams per day of Borage Oil, or 3-6 grams per day
of Evening Primrose Oil. To increase production of Series
3 prostaglandins, a healthy adult needs to eat fish
several times a week, or supplement the diet with 1-2
grams of Fish Oil or 2-5 grams of Flax Oil a day. Restoring
the natural levels of prostaglandins in our bodies will
help both prevent and treat those diseases where harmful
prostaglandin activity is a key factor.
Supplementation with Borage Oil and other "good" fats
can help restore the natural balance our bodies were
meant to have.
Artur Klimaszewski is an MD with
Bioriginal Food & Science Corp., Saskatoon, Canada.
He is devoted to research in the field of essential
fats.
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