LINOLEIC ACID IS CARCINOGENIC

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eic_acid_is_carcinogenic.htm

 

 

by Stanford Field

January 2003

 

A SHOCKING REPORT FROM JAPAN IS RECEIVED WITHOUT A MURMUR IN THE

WESTERN WORLD

 

In 1997, a report was published by Harumi Okuyama, et ai, in " Progress

in Lipid Research, " Vol. 35, No.4, pp. 409-457 that presented

overwhelming evidence that linoleic acid (predominantly in vegetable

oils) was not only carcinogenic, but also a major risk factor for

cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and for allergic

hyper-reactivity.

 

How could such valuable information be ignored? Why haven't we heard

even a whisper about it? The answer, I believe, lies in the

catastrophic implications for the food

processing-pharmaceutical-medical- political industries. We have been

fed misinformation that ignores alternative theories. For example, the

cholesterol theory of heart disease propagated the use of highly

profitable cholesterol-lowering drugs and vegetable oils. Heavy

investments were made by the pharmaceutical and food processing

industries. It's not surprising that the homocysteine theory (first

proposed by Kilmer McCully, MD in 1969) was not allowed to see the

light of day. To acknowledge the homocysteine theory would have slowed

the rush to drugs and vegetable oils. The homocysteine theory

predicted that heart disease was mainly an imbalance of diet

(methionine intake) and nutrients to detoxify homocysteine - that

required no drugs or vegetable oils.

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), originally conceived to

protect the public, is now corrupted with pharmaceutical money and the

promise of high-paying jobs within the pharmaceutical giants. Did you

know that 60-75 percent of FDA employees take jobs in pharmaceutical

companies when they retire from government? Did you know that FDA

officials own stock in the drug companies they are assigned to

regulate? Outrageous! And now we are in so deep, that officials, upon

whom we depend to guide our health, cannot tell the truth. Anyone on

the inside who attempts to blow the whistle, immediately becomes

history. Deception-for-money, without regard for health, has become

the way of life. So, don't expect to hear about the carcinogenicity of

vegetable oils.

 

I am certain that free-thinking people throughout the world appreciate

the availability of the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,

which is one of the few literary vehicles that is independent of the

food processing-pharmaceutical-medical-political complex.

 

VEGETABLE OILS: A DISASTER IN AMERICA PROVIDES EPIDEMIOLOGICAL

EVIDENCE UNCOVERED BY JAPANESE RESEARCH

 

After World War II, grain production in the United States rose rapidly

because of greatly increased farm productivity brought about by

mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides. Within a relatively short

time, grain production exceeded demand in the United States. Oils were

removed from the excess grains, and the residual mash was fed to

cattle. Since cattle were fed grains to fatten them quickly (they

normally eat grass), their fats were high in linoleic acid.

 

The intake of cattle meat and vegetable oils rose dramatically as

hamburger shops and grocery store oils proliferated. Nutritionists and

healthcare professionals encouraged the public to eat vegetable oils

because they contained essential fatty acids - especially linoleic

acid.

 

The growth of railroads and the development of refrigerated railroad

cars allowed beef to be shipped to every part of the nation. You could

now get a hamburger (80% fat and very high in calories), french fries

(boiled in toxic peroxidized oil that is soaked into the potatoes) and

a soft drink whenever you felt the slightest bit of hunger. The soft

drink contained phosphoric acid (to dissolve the carbon dioxide) that

required calcium from the bones to neutralize it. The soft drink also

was also extremely high in sugar (about 30-40 grams or 8-10 teaspoons

- the blood normally contains about 5 grams of glucose) which caused

insulin levels to soar. High insulin promotes the conversion of

linoleic acid to excess arachidonic acid. Excess arachidonic acid in

cell membranes causes a response to any injury with excessive

inflammation and excessive cell damage. The " arachidonic acid cascade "

mediates all inflammatory damage including that associated with heart

diseases, Alzheimer's disease and all cancers. Thus, linoleic acid and

insulin surges are combined to devastate the body.

 

Returning to the story, vegetable oils sold in grocery stores were

treated with hydrogen (partially hydrogenated) to reduce rancidity and

gum formation to increase shelf life. The oils were crystal-clear and

stayed that way. Later, it was found that the plastic bottles oozed

estrogen mimics and hormone - disrupting chemicals that are a leading

cause of prostate cancer and breast cancer. These estrogen mimics

playa significant role in the epidemic of infertility and premenstrual

syndrome among young women.

 

Polycarbonate resins contain bisphenol-A which has potent estrogenic

effects. Polycarbonate resins are made into clear hard plastic water

and vegetable oil bottles that have become ubiquitous. Furthermore,

polycarbonate resins are used as the inner linings in canned goods and

soft drinks. As little as 2 parts per billion of bisphenol-A (1/1000th

of the FDA safety limit) cause an estrogenic response in cells.

 

Full hydrogenation of vegetable oils produced solid saturated fats

that were canned (such as " Crisco " ). Intermediate hydrogenation

produced a semi-solid fat that was called " margarine " that could be

used as a butter substitute. The vegetable oil industry did an

excellent job of chemical engineering, but whose responsibility was it

to test the physiological effects of these altered oils?

 

Within a few decades, heart attacks and other heart diseases became

epidemic. Medical research identified saturated fats and cholesterol

in foods as the main nutritional factors causing heart disease.

Polyunsaturated oils were found to lower blood pressure and reduce

cholesterol in heart-problem patients. The polyunsaturated vegetable

oils were led by safflower oil which had the highest concentration of

polyunsaturates (80% linoleic acid). It was rapidly swept off grocery

store shelves and fed into the mouths of everyone in America!

 

Thereafter, margarine was endorsed by the American Heart Association

as a heart-healthy substitute for butter. Margarine contained

partially hydrogenated fat called " trans-fatty acids " which were later

found to be insidiously unhealthy. About 80 percent of the margarine

in the United States is made from refined soybean oil which contains

about 52 percent linoleic acid. Perhaps, the linoleic acid aspect of

things should be considered in the " great soy debate. " Trans-fats are

linked to the following effects: tumor growth and metastasis,

inhibition of many key enzyme reactions, low birth weight in infants,

decreased testosterone in men, prostate enlargment, heart disease,

increased LDL cholesterol, lowered HDL cholesterol, obesity,

suppression of immune system, interference with glucose transport into

cells, and excess-glutamate induced neuronal death. Trans-fats are

found in bread, cake, candies, canned soup, cereals, cookies,

crackers, doughnuts, cheese, grocery store oils and margarine.

 

Medical researchers, doctors and nutritionists were completely unaware

of the unintended detrimental health consequences of a diet high in

omega-6 oils (most vegetable oils) and trans-fatty acids. Today, when

even I know about them, very little is officially said to warn the

public.

 

As the cancer rate rose and the heart disease rate declined and no

greater net survival rate was attained, it became transparent that

heart disease was being traded for cancer. Why? We now know, based on

the Japanese research, that the main component of the " heart-healthy "

vegetable oils (linoleic acid) is carcinogenic.

 

A DISASTER IN JAPAN LEADS TO THE DISCOVERY THAT LINOLEIC ACID IS

CARCINOGENIC

 

Since the 1950s, Japan has experienced rapidly rising mortality from

cancers (lung, colorectum, breast, uterus, prostate, pancreas,

esophagus and skin) that were previously of relatively minor

importance. Furthermore, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

and allergic hyper-reactivity disease are also rising rapidly. Through

extensive and detailed research, the main cause for all these diseases

is attributed to the relatively rapid switch to the use of vegetable

oils instead of the traditional use of fish oils as a result of a

catastrophic disregard for the sanctity of the nearby ocean

environment - the source of sea life used as food.

 

In the 1950s, a chemical plant in Minamata, Japan continuously

discharged large amounts of waste mercury compounds into Minamata Bay.

The passage of mercury through the aquatic food chain led to human

deaths following the consumption of fish that lived in the bay.

Infants were born with severe mental retardation and the absence of

limbs. The concentration of mercury in those fish reached levels as

high as 36 parts per million (ppm). By way of comparison, the average

mercury content of water-packed canned tuna in the United States in

1990 was 0.2 ppm (as methyl mercury). Any amount of mercury is

considered to be dangerous because it can be accumulated to reach

toxic levels. How does mercury get into fish around the world?

 

 

Mercury is released into the atmosphere by the following:

 

* burning of coal - mostly to generate electricity (coal accounts

for 29 percent of all energy used in the world in 2000)

* the incineration of all kinds of wastes, including land dumps

* metal smelters

* volcanic eruptions

 

The mercury vapor is carried around the globe by air currents, and it

eventually settles out of the atmosphere and falls on the land (30%)

and in the oceans (70%). The World Health Organization estimates that

about 10,000 tons of mercury are released worldwide each year from all

sources. That is a huge amount of mercury being deposited n the

environment, year after year.

 

The ultimate sink for the mercury is the sediments of oceans and

lakes. There, micro- organisms convert the inorganic mercury to methyl

mercury (the form that is most toxic to humans). That mercury is

concentrated in the largest fish in the aquatic food chain (sharks,

swordfish and tuna). Mercury is especially toxic to fetuses, so women

in their reproduction years must not accumulate mercury in their

bodies to avoid passing it on to their babies.

 

Monosodium glutamate (MSG and many disguised names) is in a great deal

of the food that is on the market. Excess glutamate in neurons is an

excitotoxin which causes neuron death. The body tries to detoxify the

glutamate by conversion to glutamine. That conversion is inhibited by

mercury. and is strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease. The

blood serum of early-onset Alzheimer's patients contains three times

as much mercury (330 mcg/l) compared to controls (110 mcg/l). Mercury

is highly toxic to the brain.

 

Also, the body uses calcium to activate neurons in response to

glutamate. The detoxication of a neuron requires that the calcium be

pumped out of the neuron. That removal of calcium is inhibited by

trans-fatty acids. The excessive calcium accumulation in the neuron

causes neuron death, and it is also associated with Alzheimer's

disease.

 

 

FDA data showing the mercury content of fish (in parts per million),

is as follows:

 

swordfish 1.00 lobster 0.31

shark 0.96 halibut 0.23

mackerel 0.73 tuna (canned) 0.17

tuna steak 0.32 scallops 0.05

 

 

Mercury was not detected in salmon (do not eat farmed salmon - they

are fed linoleic acid-containing fatty acids and trans-fatty acids),

flounder, sole, herring, whitefish, mahi mahi, and cod.

 

Returning to the story in Japan, well-publicized concerns about

contamination of sea foods with mercury-containing compounds and

polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have caused a sharp increase in the

use of vegetable oils. The subsequent steadily rising cancer and

stroke rates provided the incentive for animal research and

epidemiological studies in an attempt to uncover the causes. That

research culminated in the 1997 report by Harumi Okuyama, et al that

contained electrifying evidence that linoleic acid and its metabolite,

arachidonic acid were prominent causes of a variety of cancers,

cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and allergic

hyper-reactivity in Japan with implications for America and the rest

of the industrialized world.

 

THE FATTY ACID CONTENT OF VARIOUS COMMON OILS

 

This report concludes with a table showing the linoleic acid content

of various common oils (area under " linoleic acid " ). My oil use is

limited to one tablespoon of cod liver oil (Norwegian is relatively

pure - the label indicates " no detectable " [whatever that means]

mercury or PCBs) and liberal use of extra virgin olive oil, coconut

oil and medium chain triglycerides.

 

COMPOSITION OF FATTY ACIDS (wt %)

 

[chart]

 

TOO LATE SCHMART is written by Stanford Field (BS chemical

engineering, 1951) who has been avidly studying biochemistry and

physiology, since 1993, with an aim of staying healthy despite the

ever-increasing odds of age-related decline. This publication is

written to the best of his ability, and it is intended to document any

findings that may be useful to interested readers. The publication has

neither profit nor political motives.

 

January 2003

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