Re: Walnuts, Flax, and ALMONDS?

[Guest guest]

Hi Orb:

Sorry to point out the inconsistency, but which statement of yours,

of the two below, is accurate? You have made both statements and

they cannot both be true:

" Also, keep in mind that we are not consuming huge amounts of ALA

(and my total fat intake is very low compared with most) "

" A healthy vegan (or non-vegan) produces ample levels of DHA and EPA

from omega-3 and omega-6. No concern there for me. "

Given the low conversion rate from ALA to DHA and EPA, how do you

manage to generate " ample " DHA and EPA while consuming, apparently,

only modest quantities of ALA, and no animal products?

Clearly you are free to pursue whatever dietary course you wish. But

from the above it is not clear to me, or you either apparently,

whether you are getting too little DHA and EPA, or are consuming too

much ALA, or, quite possibly, both at the same time.

As for ethical considerations regarding eating fish, given that most

fish spend much of their time eating each other, I see no 'ethical'

conflict with the idea of humans eating *them*. The health

considerations seem to be strongly biased in favor of eating fish.

Rodney.

--- In , " orb85750 " <sudarsky@...>

wrote:

>

> A healthy vegan (or non-vegan) produces ample levels of DHA and EPA

> from omega-3 and omega-6. No concern there for me, though there are

> vegan supplements out there too, produced from algae. (I *do*

> supplement B12 rather than leaving it to chance by eating unwashed

> root vegetables!)

>

> --- In , Jeff Novick <chefjeff40@>

wrote:

> >

> > You may want to spend some time reading Tony's

> > wesbite.. especially his section on fats and the

> > effects of fats on lipids.

> >

> > He has a great explantation and examples of documented

> > equations which you can use to calculate what the

> > change in cholesterol will be from the change in the

> > type of fat.

> >

> > As you will see MUFAs have little if any effect, in

> > and of themselves, on lowering cholesterol

> >

> > http://www.scientificpsychic.com/health/cholesterol1.html

> >

> > As a vegan, are you concerned about EPA and DHA and if

> > so, how do you address these concerns?

> >

> > Regards

> > Jeff

> >

>

[Guest guest]

--- Rodney <perspect1111@...> wrote:

> ALA which has been

> shown in several studies to be associated with a

> doubling in the rate

> of metastatic prostate cancer. (Giovannucci et al,

> Health

> Professionals follow up study, which has been posted

> here a number of

> times). So, as a male, I avoid the foods, like

> walnuts and flax,

> which contain copious amounts of this fat, because

> prostate cancer is

> a very common form of cancer in males. There are

> very nearly as many

> new cases of it, and very nearly as many deaths from

> it in males, as

> there are from breast cancer in females.

Hi All,

The latest and well done study (prospective study) of

the association of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) with

protate cancer is:

Koralek DO, s U, Andriole G, Reding D, Kirsh V,

Subar A, Schatzkin A, R, Leitzmann MF.

A prospective study of dietary alpha-linolenic acid

and the risk of prostate cancer (United States).

Cancer Causes Control. 2006 Aug;17(6):783-91.

PMID: 16783606 http://tinyurl.com/yaadp5

BACKGROUND: Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the

most common omega-3 fatty acid in the Western diet.

The relation of dietary intake of ALA to prostate

cancer risk remains unresolved. OBJECTIVE: We

prospectively evaluated total ALA and ALA from

specific food sources including animal, fish, and

plant sources in relation to prostate cancer risk.

DESIGN: A cohort of 29,592 male participants (age

55-74 years) in the screening arm of the Prostate,

Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening

Trial was followed for an average of 5.1 years.

RESULTS: We ascertained 1,898 cases of total prostate

cancer, of which 1,631 were organ-confined cases

(stage T1b to T3a and N0M0) and 285 were advanced

stage cases (stage>or=T3b, N1, or M1). We found no

association between total ALA intake and overall

prostate cancer (multivariate RR comparing extreme

quintiles=0.94; 95% CI=0.81-1.09; P for trend=0.76).

The corresponding RRs for organ-confined and advanced

prostate cancer were 0.94 (95% CI=0.80-1.10; P for

trend=0.80) and 0.83 (95% CI=0.58-1.19; P for

trend=0.34), respectively. In addition, no relations

were observed between ALA intake from any specific

food source and the risks of total, organ-confined, or

advanced prostate cancer. ALA intake also showed no

association with low grade (Gleason sum<7; 1,221

cases) tumors (P for trend=0.23) or high grade

(Gleason sum>or=7; n=677 cases) tumors (P for

trend=0.26). CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective study of

predominantly Caucasian men who were screened annually

for newly incident prostate cancer, dietary intake of

total ALA and ALA from specific food sources was not

associated with risk of total prostate cancer or

prostate tumors that were defined by stage and grade.

-- Al Pater, PhD; email: Alpater@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Al:

Hmmmmm. Thank you for that reference. So now we have one that

denies the connection. I have often wondered whether the component

responsible for the relationship shown in other studies might be the

aflatoxin content of the foods containing the ALA that the subjects

had eaten. If that were the case then people eating foods from parts

of the country less subject to aflatoxin contamination might possibly

show lower prostate cancer incidence for similar ALA intakes. But

this is pure speculation on my part.

For those who are interested, the PMID #s of some of the studies that

have found a link between ALA and prostate cancer are:

8105097; 8158682; 11519764; and 15213050.

No one disputes, as far as I am aware, that ALA is protective against

CVD.

Rodney.

>

> > ALA which has been

> > shown in several studies to be associated with a

> > doubling in the rate

> > of metastatic prostate cancer. (Giovannucci et al,

> > Health

> > Professionals follow up study, which has been posted

> > here a number of

> > times). So, as a male, I avoid the foods, like

> > walnuts and flax,

> > which contain copious amounts of this fat, because

> > prostate cancer is

> > a very common form of cancer in males. There are

> > very nearly as many

> > new cases of it, and very nearly as many deaths from

> > it in males, as

> > there are from breast cancer in females.

>

> Hi All,

>

> The latest and well done study (prospective study) of

> the association of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) with

> protate cancer is:

>

> Koralek DO, s U, Andriole G, Reding D, Kirsh V,

> Subar A, Schatzkin A, R, Leitzmann MF.

> A prospective study of dietary alpha-linolenic acid

> and the risk of prostate cancer (United States).

> Cancer Causes Control. 2006 Aug;17(6):783-91.

> PMID: 16783606 http://tinyurl.com/yaadp5

> BACKGROUND: Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the

> most common omega-3 fatty acid in the Western diet.

> The relation of dietary intake of ALA to prostate

> cancer risk remains unresolved. OBJECTIVE: We

> prospectively evaluated total ALA and ALA from

> specific food sources including animal, fish, and

> plant sources in relation to prostate cancer risk.

> DESIGN: A cohort of 29,592 male participants (age

> 55-74 years) in the screening arm of the Prostate,

> Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening

> Trial was followed for an average of 5.1 years.

> RESULTS: We ascertained 1,898 cases of total prostate

> cancer, of which 1,631 were organ-confined cases

> (stage T1b to T3a and N0M0) and 285 were advanced

> stage cases (stage>or=T3b, N1, or M1). We found no

> association between total ALA intake and overall

> prostate cancer (multivariate RR comparing extreme

> quintiles=0.94; 95% CI=0.81-1.09; P for trend=0.76).

> The corresponding RRs for organ-confined and advanced

> prostate cancer were 0.94 (95% CI=0.80-1.10; P for

> trend=0.80) and 0.83 (95% CI=0.58-1.19; P for

> trend=0.34), respectively. In addition, no relations

> were observed between ALA intake from any specific

> food source and the risks of total, organ-confined, or

> advanced prostate cancer. ALA intake also showed no

> association with low grade (Gleason sum<7; 1,221

> cases) tumors (P for trend=0.23) or high grade

> (Gleason sum>or=7; n=677 cases) tumors (P for

> trend=0.26). CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective study of

> predominantly Caucasian men who were screened annually

> for newly incident prostate cancer, dietary intake of

> total ALA and ALA from specific food sources was not

> associated with risk of total prostate cancer or

> prostate tumors that were defined by stage and grade.

>

> -- Al Pater, PhD; email: Alpater@...

>

> __________________________________________________

>