Re: Delta-6-desaturase

Some good info; but practically what Weston Price said all the time;

"Prostaglandins (bear with me, you will be a better person if you slog through this stuff!) -- These magical hormone-like compounds are the catalyst for many, if not most, of the critical bodily processes (everything from blood platelet sticky-ness to sperm production to brain cell function) and are found in every cell. Prostaglandins are tantamount to super hormones that control the hormones. There are two separate cascading pathways (Omega-6 and Omega-3) that lead to numerous reactions that can be good, bad, or both. There are loops, feedbacks, cancellations, synergies, and roadblocks in these processes, making this an evolving and convoluted fat -science-! "

Omega 6 pathway --

This pathway (PW) starts with a two DB, eighteen carbon FA, like corn oil. In the first step it is changed to a three DB fat called gama-linolenic acid (GLA) by the enzyme Delta 6 Desaturase (D6D). You can bypass the first step and enter the pathway here by eating foods or supplements with GLA (seeds, nuts, borage oil, etc).

Next, the GLA is elongated with an enzyme to a twenty carbon FA called dihomogama linolenic acid (DGLA). You can enter the pathway here by eating foods rich in DGLA like liver and organ meats. Now we are at a fork in the road. If the DGLA does not encounter any further enzymes it will enter the beneficial series 1 prostaglandin, which decreases inflammation and platelet sticky-ness (just to name two out of dozens of positive effects).

However, if the DGLA encounters the D5D enzyme, it will change from a 3 DB to a 4 DB called Arachidonic Acid (AA) commonly associated with saturated animal fat. AA is the precursor to the series 2 prostaglandin which is generally considered bad because it increases inflammation, platelet sticky-ness, blood pressure, etc. However, this is a simplistic view, Series 2 is not bad, it is just necessary.

For example, you would probably consider series 1 and 3 reducing platelet stickiness a good thing, but if you didn't have series 2 you would bleed out in a few minutes if scratched. So, it's all about BALANCE. However, due to our diet of Sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and a lack of omega-3, we don't activate the series 1 and 3 enough, and over-stimulate the series 2 resulting in too much inflammation, platelet stickiness, etc. Series 2 is also used for rapid response and stressful situations like childbirth, unlike the slower plodding effects of series 3.

Because the PW can be entered here by eating AA rich foods like butter, animal fat, organ meats, and egg yolks, dieticians tell you to avoid these foods because of their supposed negative prostaglandin reaction. This is only true; however, if your saturated fat/AA consumption is excessive in relation to your Omega 3 consumption (which is a completely different PW, but still very much connected because they use the same desaturase/elongase enzymes!).

In fact, if your AA intake is remotely close to being in balance with the other fatty acids, eating eggs, butter, and animal fat is actually very beneficial. It makes the other fatty acids work even better (synergy). But if your satfat/AA consumption is excessive you can still get away with it if you make a couple of dietary changes that dieticians don't tell you about.... like eliminating Sugar and HVO and adding omega-3 to your diet. AA, just like Omega 3, is an important constituent of the cell membrane. That's why mother's milk is rich in AA..."
http://www.bsi.international/at_fats.php
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