Alpha-Linolenic Acid is Better Than We Thought

Previous information about omega-3 fatty acids has been somewhat dubious about benefits of alpha-linolenic acid – an omega-3 acid found chiefly in green vegetables. This may change with the publication of a report in the journal Circulation from Harvard scientist Dr Hannia Campos.

There’s good evidence that eating fatty fish or taking fish-oil supplement, which contain plenty of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA (or eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid), is associated with lessened or slowed atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and stroke or cardiac mortality. But there are plenty of people who can’t or won’t eat fish at elast twice a week. Dr Campos’ study has examined the relationship between eating vegetable oils containing alpha-linolenic acid and the risk of heart attack.

Over 1,800 patients with a first non-fatal heart attack living in Costa Rica were matched with an equal number of healthy people in the population with regard to age, gender, and area of rsidence. Fatty acids were measured from biopsy samples of fat tissue and confirmed by food-frequency questionnaires. Attention was focussed on the consumption of vegetable oils such as soybean, canola, and flaxseed oil. The patients were classified into ten graded groups according to their alpha-linolenic acid fatty-tissue levels. There was a strong link between these different groups and the alpha-linolenic intake. And there was an equally strong association between the tissue alpha-linolenic fatty acid level and the risk of having a heart attack, even after making allowances for levels of EPA and DHA, as well as smoking, activity level, diabetes, blood pressure, and waist size.

This study makes it fairly clear that eating as much as 1.8 grams daily of alpha-linolenic acid almost halves the risk of a heart attack in those individuals who have low fat levels of this fatty acid. This can be achieved by small amounts of flaxseed oil daily (just half a teaspoonful), or 1 – 2 teaspoons of soybean oil. Or, just as well, you can use salad dressings containing canola or soybean oil.