Nuts, Seeds, LNA and CLA...

Lots of letters huh?

I read some interesting info a few other blogs in the past few days about nuts and thought I would post more on fatty acid sources because that is what we will be discussing in class tomorrow afternoon ( again!)

I have this chart from my biochemistry book of the make up of 20 varieties of nuts. All nuts provide sources of BOTH saturated fats AND Monounsaturated fats. Nuts also provide essential fatty acids ( which are omega-6, omega-3 and LNA)

For comparison, nuts/seeds such as walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, seasame seeds- they all offer a good source of fat and fiber. however, they are different in specific make-ups of their nutrition profiles. i.e:

Walnuts (1 oz) are made up of:

6% Saturated fat, 14% Mono-unsaturaed fat, 58% Omega-6, 14% Omega-3 and offer 2.6 gm of Linoleic Acid.

Flaxseeds (1 oz) are made up of:

9% Saturated fat, 18% Mono-unsaturated fat, 16% Omega-6, 57% Omega-3 and offer 5.2 gm of Linoleic Acid

Omega-6 fats do offer some benefits, but have also been shown to increase risk of prostate cancer among other illnesses.
Omega-3 fats are more beneficial.
Linoleic Acid and Linolenic Acid are "essential fatty acids"- They are both Omega 3 because of their nomenclature.... ( check out my post http://runlmo1.blogspot.com/search/label/Advanced%20Nutrient%20Metabolism for even more info on Lipids and naming fats) .... is also thought to have anti-cancer properties ( specifically Conjugated Linoleic Acid or CLA).

Flaxseed is higher in both Omega-3 and Linloeic Acid and Unsaturate fats in general.

Macadamia nuts are made up of 16% saturated fat which is actually LOWER than both Pumpkin Seeds (19%) and Cashews (20%). The saturated fat in macademia nuts is very close in saturated fat with Tofu and Peanuts, both of which are made up of 14% saturated fat.
But, Cashews are much higher in monounsaturated fats (57%) than lots of other nuts...( i love cashews)


Essential Fatty Acid:
Conjugated Lineoleic Acid is naturally present in meat and dairy fats and may inhibit certain types of cancer. Studies creating synthetic CLA have found it to inhibit human tumor cells in the skin, colon, breast, and lung as well as preventing spread of cancers in animal models.

The problem with consuming CLA from its natural sources are the sources of saturated fat in both meat and dairy. In in vitro studies ( where the cells are in an artificial environment and not in the actual body), CLA inhibits breast cancer cell growth ( Margot, from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY) and it also prevents the development of new blood vessels in the mammiary gland which reduces the rate of mammary tumor growth. ( this was from the American Institute for Cancer Research Newsletter).

Organic Cows, grass fed, have higher levels of CLA in their meat and in their milk ? which also means they have less saturated fats than conventional cows.

Did you also know that conventional milk is thought to increase the release of insulin-growth factor in women, which is thought to increase your risk of both diabetes AND breast cancer?
Ladies- go for organic dairy products!!!


Long chain fatty acids are very important as well ( and do not really come from nuts)
-The best sources of one long chain fatty acid: APA ( alpha-lineoleic acid) are: spinach, linseed oil, english walnut oil, and canola oil.

-The best sources of EPA ( eicosapentaenoic acid) are: Anchovies (18%), scallops (21%), haddock, sole, mackeral, and albacore tuna.

-The best sources of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are: Cod (37%), Anchovies (11%), scallops (26%), haddock, herring, cod, mackerel, sole, tuna, human milk, and egg yolk

Nutrient Metabolism: Lipids!

Lipids!

We are finally on to lipids! Exam 2 will be on Glycolysis and the full break down of glucose up to the Krebb's Cycle, then we finished electron transport chain tonight and started Lipids!


So..
There are three major types of lipids:
1. Trigylcerides ( fatty acids)
2. Phospholipids
3. Sterols ( cholesterol, )

What the heck is a triglyceride? and What is a Fatty Acid?
Triglycerids are made of a glycerol "backbone" with three fatty acid chains attached to it.
(Glycerol II) ( fatty acid---)
II--------1
II--------2
II--------3

Fatty Acids are long chains of carbon, with hydrogen and oxygen attached to all the carbons.

-Saturated Fat is a long straight chain of carbons with NO double bonds between carbons

so C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C ( all the carbons are fully saturated with hydrogens)

-Unsaturated Fat is a long chain of carbons WITH double bonds between carbons...

so
(Methyl Group)- C-C-C=C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-(Carboxyl)

(attached bookend groups, the double bond prevents saturation of carbons)

The bookends: A carboxyl group on one end, and a methyl group on the other, are helpful in the naming the fatty acid.

So the above example has 11 Carbons, with 1 double bond, on the 3rd carbon from the left (methyl side) or if you count from the right (carboxyl side) the double bond is on the 8th carbon.

So the omega system name would be 11:1 omega-3 ( ring a bell... omega-3 fatty acids)
since you start from the methyl side

The Carboxyl side naming would be 11:1 delta 8
( the 11 carbon chain has 1 double bond on its 8th carbon)

So this gets a little trickier ... What is all the hype on Saturated Fats and Trans Fat?

Well.... unsaturated fats are bent because of the heavy double bonds... so if it has lots of double bonds it bends at each one, creating a compact curly-Q.... This polyunsaturated (many double bonds) is healthier for you because of this structure ( we haven't gotten to this yet..)

Trans Fat
Trans fat is actually an unsaturated fat from a vegetable source, so it has a double bond. So its supposed to be healthy, but good old USDA/conventional food production decides to use hydrogenation to increase shelf life of foods. So the process of hydrogenation un-bends this molecule so that it is in a straight, long chain like saturated fats ( so that it can have a longer shelf life like most saturated fats) . This is BAD news because not only is it recognized by your body as a "saturated fat".. it also causes your LDL the bad) cholesterol levels to increase and your good cholesterol (HDL) to decrease... not good!

Saturated Fats
Includes Palm Oil, Animal and Dairy sources
Like Trans fat, your body does not like this creature because of its structure , it tends to "block arteries" because its long straight chains..

Super Healthy Unsaturated Fats
DHA and EPA are fatty acids from fish oils but can also be found in eggs, flax oil, and seaweed... These are the healthiest unsaturated fats and have benefits including anti-inflamation, heart and brain functioning, and lowering cholesterol levels.

Thats just a wrap up from what I remembered without my notes. I am studying for my test so I will be posting more of my notes on glucose---> glucose-6-phosphate... then glucose-6-phosphate breakdown to pyruvate, then pyruvate breakdown to Acetyl CoA. I will also be posting on lactic acid and fructose breakdown!