Hey, there, TopSirloin! I haven’t had a chance to tell you before, but I’ve been enjoying reading your posts here on the forum. I’m sure I’m not the only one who enjoys and appreciates your contributions to the forum.
Re the phytoestrogens, good catch. (grin) They come from flaxseed lignins. The amount is pretty small; not anything like having soy burger or a tofu stir fry. Often in life a little can be good, with more not being better. One of the things with soy, too, is that some of it (a lot?) is GMO. I avoid soy to the best of my ability, but I’m not afraid of (and don’t feel a need to avoid) the phytoestrogens that I get from flaxseed (oil or seed).
Re whether Omega 6 fatty acids can be made by the body or not, I’d be interested if you find anything that explains how biochemically our body does that.
I’ll quote a few short lines out of Udo’s book, Fats that Heal, Fats that kill, “Both LA and LNA are EFAs for humans (fish require LNA, but LA is not essential for them because they can make it from LNA). This means that our body must have them, but cannot make them. It must therefore get LA and LNA from foods. A third fatty acid, called arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4w6), was thought to be essential in the past, but our body can make it from LA, and therefor AA is not an EFA, but an EFA derivative. If either LA or LNA is missing or deficient in the diet, cells deteriorate and, inevitably, deficiency symptoms will gradually develop.”
There’s also a fascinating schematic in the same book on Page 20, if you get a chance to take a peek. It shows how fatty acids are metabolized in the body. Udo says again, “Essential fatty acids (EFAs) must come from foods. All other fatty acids can come from food sources or can be synthesized in the body.”
I’m sorry that there’s a conflict re what’s in the Fat Roundtable and what Udo says. I can’t stand it when I read conflicting info on a given topic. I end up doing a bunch of research until I’m able to resolve it to my satisfaction. On the plus side, I guess that’s what takes what we know to the next higher level. (grin)
Re people getting too many w6s in their diet, some people have compromised by alternating between purchasing a bottle of Udo’s Choice and then purchasing a bottle of flaxseed oil. I’m sure it’s highly individual. I don’t eat a lot of processed food, and I don’t get a lot of either quality expeller pressed polyunsaturated fat (typically high in w6s) or store-bought/processed/damaged polyunsaturated fat, either. Unless I would get my w6s/Omega 6s from nuts high in w6s or Udo’s Choice, I would inevitably become deficient. It’s got to be highly individual. That’s where nutritional software like Nutribase’s software would come in handy.
Addendum/Edit: An additional source of Omega 6s/w6s is the fat in the meat we eat. Cattle, chickens and pigs are fed or finished off on corn and are, for that reason, higher in w6s than grass-fed cattle or free range chickens. It sure is a juggling act, isn’t it.
Yustas, thanks for the study. That’s pretty well accepted knowledge re CLA. All Udo is saying is that there are about 150 studies that show there are some down sides or negatives associated with CLA.
To everyone that’s been following this thread, I sent Udo an email through his web site with the questions that have come up on this thread. If I hear back from him, I’ll will report what he has to say.
Please join me in crossing your fingers that he does reply!!! (grin)