Article: White House Prompts USDA and HHS: Increase N-3 / EFA; Decrease Trans Fats

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Interesting article by Udo Erasmus

 

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http://www.udoerasmus.com/articles/udo/white_house_prompts.htm

 

 

 

White House " Prompts " USDA and HHS: Increase N-3 / EFA; Decrease Trans

Fats

 

 

 

( " N-3 " is the Research Designation for " Omega-3 " oils)

 

 

 

The White House on my Team?

 

On May 28, 2003, the Executive Office of the President, through the

Office of Management and Budget, wrote a letter to the US Department of

Agriculture and to the Department of Health and Human Services.

 

 

The letter 'prompts' these Departments of the US Government to revise

the Food Guide Pyramid (recommendations to consumers about what to eat

each day) and the Dietary Guidelines (affect the content of more than 25

million school lunches) to reflect the damage done to health by trans

fats and the benefits that come from increasing essential n-3 (n-3) fats

in the diet.

 

<http://www.udoerasmus.com/images/nikon4/200x100_nookie.jpg>

 

Both of these points are really good news, because the research

confirming the danger of trans fats and the benefits of n-3 on health

are overwhelming. I have addressed trans fats in detail in another

article (FDA

<http://www.udoerasmus.com/articles/udo/trans_fats_labelling.htm>

Requires trans Fat Labeling on Foods by 2006), and will focus here

primarily on the essential n-3 fatty acid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The n-3 Story

 

Here is what we need to know about the importance of n-3 to health.

 

* ONE: N-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) is 'essential'. This word is

important. 'Essential' means that the body requires it for life and for

health, cannot make it from anything else we eat, and must therefore

obtain it from foods. 'Essential' also means that too little leads to

degenerative symptoms due to n-3 deficiency, and too little for too long

shortens life by resulting in death. The good news on 'essential' means

that return of sufficient n-3 to a deficient diet leads to reversal of

n-3 deficiency-based degenerative symptoms, and re-establishment of

health.

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* TWO: N-3 intake is down to 16% of what people got 150 years ago,

and in 1850 people were not getting optimum amounts of n-3. That makes

n-3 deficiency the most common essential nutrient deficiency in the

diets of affluent people around the world. About 95-99% of the

population is affected by n-3 deficiency, and suffers degenerative

symptoms as a result. (The next most common deficiencies are magnesium

at about 85%, and vitamin B6 at about 80% of the population.)

<http://www.udoerasmus.com/images/bkg/gradh2a_grinn2b.jpg>

 

* THREE: Every cell, tissue, gland, and organ in the body requires

n-3 for its structure and its functions, and therefore deficiency

symptoms affect all parts of the body. Most doctors are untrained in

nutrition. And most doctors therefore cannot tell you that your heart

attack, stroke, or embolism were caused by n-3 deficiency, or that your

arthritis, inflammatory condition, or auto-immune problem comes from not

getting enough n-3 in your diet. Or that your weak bones, low energy,

dry skin, overweight, obesity, or type II diabetes (insulin resistance)

are the result of n-3 deficiency. Or that depression and poor focus

(attention deficit) can be from too little n-3 consumption. Or that

hormone imbalance, poor healing, mental fatigue, poor ability to deal

with stress, and symptoms of mental illness (including schizophrenia,

bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, anxiety) and Alzheimer's can be signs of

insufficient n-3 in the diet.

<http://www.udoerasmus.com/images/bkg/gradh2a_grinn2b.jpg>

 

* FOUR: FACT - all of the conditions listed above readily improve

when the intake of n-3 is increased. What this means is profound. It

means that all of the above conditions are largely caused, at least in

part, by too little n-3 in the diet. If they were not caused by n-3

deficiency, then increased n-3 intake would not reverse them. This truth

about n-3 deficiency-caused degenerative diseases is inherent in the

definition of 'essential'.

 

 

 

<http://www.udoerasmus.com/images/nikon4/500x100_ambleside.jpg>

 

 

 

N-3 deficiency is the single, most widespread, most health-damaging

physical cause of degenerative diseases in our time.

 

It is extremely easy to address this cause of disease by simply

increasing and optimizing n-3 consumption.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effects of Trans Fats

 

How trans fats play into this story is that trans fats interfere with

n-3 (as well as n-6) functions, and make n-3 requirement for good health

even higher, and the health damage (degenerative deficiency symptom)

consequences of getting only 16% of 1850 levels in the diet even more

serious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EOP Confirms the Truth

 

The letter from the Executive Office of the President of the U.S.

underscores the fact that there are Fats That Heal and Fats That Kill.

My book by that title has been out for 10 years and sold about 200,000

copies. Its predecessor was published in 1986 and sold over 30,000

copies. My inquiry into the research that led me to this conclusion

began in 1980. That year, pesticides poisoned me, and doctors were

unable to help.

 

<http://www.udoerasmus.com/images/nikon4/200x200_nepenthe.jpg>

The letter from the Executive Office of the President of the U.S. also

underscores my contention that there should be a bottle of good oils in

every fridge in the nation, and on every table at every meal. They are

so important to health and optimum physical and mental function that

they should be in front of the bread and milk. We can live without bread

and milk, but we cannot live without essential fats or n-3 fats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research-Based Stastics:

 

The foundational research that underlies my and the EOP's conclusions is

published in the most reputable research journals.

 

The Internet search engine PubMed Medline lists 597,453 published

research articles on 'lipids', the scientific name that covers all fats,

good and bad. It takes 29,873 pages just to list the titles, 20 to a

page.

 

Under 'essential fatty acid', there are 29,980 published research

articles. The listing of titles is 1,449 pages long.

 

Under 'n-3', there are 3,974 published research articles, 199 pages of

titles.

Under 'alpha-linolenic acid', the long name of the n-3 fatty acid, there

are 1,516 published research articles; 76 pages of titles.

 

Clearly, there exists a very large body of studies that has

consistently, for a long time, pointed to the importance of good n-3

fats and bad processing-damaged fats to human health and function.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Conviction Translated into Practice

 

 

By 1983, I was so convinced of their importance that I gave up all my

other career opportunities and developed methods for making oils with

health in mind. This seemed important to me because oils were usually

made with shelf life in mind, and damage was done to oils by the

processing required to accomplish the desired long shelf life. Health

benefits were sacrificed, and toxic molecules were created.

 

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Healing fats become killing fats by changes that occur in fat molecules

during the harsh processing used, and by exposure of good oils to light,

air, heat, and time.

 

If I have cause to be proud of myself, it has to based on three efforts:

 

 

1. The work I did to understand the relationship of fats to health;

 

 

2. The conviction to develop methods for making oils with health

rather than shelf life in mind; and

 

3. The foresight to develop - 10 years ago - an n-3 rich, trans fat

free, all-in-one oil blend that provides everything we need from fats:

n-3, n-6, antioxidants, phytosterols, lecithin and 'minor' ingredients

with major health benefits-and nothing that we should avoid.

 

The <http://www.udoerasmus.com/articles/misc/n3_transfats_usgovt.htm>

letter from the Executive Office of the President shows irrevocably that

the recognition that good and bad fats deserve is finally here.