PUFAs: How much is too much? Serving Sizes?

[Brad Hefta-Gaub]

From ISWF --

• More omega-6 than omega-3 promotes inflammation.
  
• Too much PUFA (omega-3 and omega-6) in the diet makes your cells more vulnerable to oxidation— which predisposes you to inflammation.
  

So you want some omega-3 in your diet to help reduce inflammation, but you don't want too much of either omega-3 or omega-6, lest that lead to more inflammation. It's tricky, we'll give you that— but we've got it all worked out for you in just two steps.

1. Significantly decrease the amount of omega-6 and total PUFA in your diet.
   
2. Eat some naturally occurring omega-3— not too much, but enough to provide some anti-inflammatory benefits.
   

Ok... so this is all great advice, I believe... but I don't know what "too much" and "some" means? Are we talking about 1g per week? 100g per day?

Is this based on body weight? 1g per kg of body weight? etc.

Generally speaking I am not experiencing any inflammation symptoms... how do I know if I'm eating too much PUFAs?

[Kirsteen]

I think this really comes under Robin's 'Don't overthink things mantra'. Yes we need 'some' PUFAs in our diet, it's practically impossible to avoid them altogether so people are basically never deficient in them. The problem is we get far too many nowadays. There's a good article here you that explains it in a lot more detail

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/many-dangers-of-excess-pufa-consumption/

[Brad Hefta-Gaub]

I'm digging more into this. Can can any site a reference for where this claim of "limit overall PUFAs intake" comes from? The quote from the book doesn't have a specific reference to a study that supports the claim. And when I look through the end notes for the chapter I am not seeing any studies (at least from their titles) that seem to address this specific issue. I'd love to get more details on why I should be limiting nut consumption.

The one study I found referenced in the Chapter 15 end notes that seems to relates to nuts, actually strongly encourages consumption of nuts including walnuts!

[Brad Hefta-Gaub]

So far, this is the only thing I've found that seems relevant.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/71/1/197S.short

I'd appreciate if the authors or someone close to them could provide a source for their conclusions.

Thanks.

[melbournegirl]

Walnuts are much higher in 3 than 6 I believe.

Restricting pufa's to restrict inflammation is more a call to restrict processed food and canola oil rather than healthy sources of good fats I believe.

I heard about whole9 from following the soc doc .. He has lots of info and links to research about the chemical pathways to inflammation creation and reduction... See sock-doc.com I have substantially reduced my chronic inflammation by adding ghee and coconut oil into my diet and increasing eggs... Before that my only good fats were nuts and olives... I also dramatically reduced high cardio anaerobic training. Let me know if you can't find the articles on inflammation and I will try to pin them down but lots of good stuff worth a read there.

[ar1zona1]

Here is a source I found that lists out the ratio for certain items.

http://paleozonenutrition.com/2011/05/10/omega-6-and-3-in-nuts-oils-meat-and-fish-tools-to-get-it-right/

Seems like everything plant like has higher Omega 6. Look how high Walnuts are.

[Melissa Urban]

Brad,

Author/Whole9 founder here. Most of the references from Chapter 9: Seed Oils will be helpful for you - pages 301 - 302 in ISWF. I can't give you a specific "this amount is too much" figure, because your body's inflammatory status is SO multi-factorial. Here's what we do know: too much PUFA can lead to oxidation/inflammation in the body. ("Too much" is up for grabs, but the modern/Western diet is clearly too much, based on the research.) Too much omega-6 in the face of not enough omega-3 leads to inflammation. (Again, it's not just about the ratio, it's about the total amounts consumed.)

We are never in danger of getting not enough omega-6. It's prevalent in so many foods, and if we ever dine out, we're exposed to plenty via vegetable oils. We are, however, in danger of getting not enough omega-3, due to the poor quality of meat we consume, prolific use of seed oils in our modern diets, and a regular lack of cold-water fatty fish, to name a few.

So, basic recommendations. "Too much" isn't good, so do your best to limit PUFA/omega-6 consumption. (Follow recommendations in the book to do so.) Boost your omega-3s if you think you need to, based on your current diet, by taking fish oil. That's it - don't overcomplicated it any more than that. Because you don't really need to, and there is no research that will help you personalize/complicate this further.

Finally, there are tests you can do to determine your 6:3 ratio (like the bloodwork that Stronger Faster Healthier is doing), but it's short-term - it only measures the ratio in red blood cells, which only gives you a picture of your 6:3 ratio in the last 4-6 weeks... not long-term. So if you want to do some measurements and see where you currently stand, you can, but the effects of too much PUFA/omega-6 in the diet are far more longstanding and go back way further than the last 4-6 weeks. So it's a snapshot, but not much else.

Hope that helps,

Melissa

[Brad Hefta-Gaub]

Melissa,

Thanks for the reply. I guess I may be over thinking this. I have already been eating pretty "clean" for the last couple years. My diet has been GF/DF based on lots of whole foods, lots of green leafy vegetables, rarely eating grains since most aren't GF.

As a long distance endurance athlete (Ultramarathoner, Ironman, Endurance Cyclist) I switched to a "metabolic efficiency" (Bob Seebohar) nutrition plan 9-10 months ago that was essentially paleo. I just started Whole 30 on Jan 1, and have really enjoyed reading your book, because like Bob's work it is based on sound science. I will admit I love reading scientific studies.

But I also love cooking. I love flavors, I love presentation, and I want to eat in a manner that helps me achieve my sports fitness goals, improves my overall health, but also celebrates the art of cooking. And I am doing all of this in the context of the "rest of my life". This isn't about short term challenges. I've already made life long changes, now I'm trying to optimize my nutrition.

The spirit of my questions come from these goals:

• As an endurance athlete, when I'm in the thick of training/competing, I need to consume a lot of calories.
  
• Working under a MET framework, a large portion of those calories need to come from FAT.
  
• I want to choose whole food sources of Healthy Fats that are portable, easy to consume on the run (sometimes literally)
  
• I also want to be able to make delicious, beautiful, fun, and adventurous food and meals. Nut cheeses and nut breads would be part of this.
  

Anyway... when I read chapter 15, particularly about nuts, I started seeing the walls of diversity in whole food choices closing down around me.

Maybe I am just over thinking this. Maybe I was reading a message intended for the average Western Diet eater, who is inadvertently sucking down gallons of canola and corn oil a month in the myriad of processed and prepared foods, and thought it was directed at me when the vegetable oils I'm eating are mostly olive oil, coconut oil, and would like to also enjoy some whole nuts on a regular basis.

Thanks!

-Brad

[Melissa Urban]

Brad,

Sounds like you are really passionate about your health and fitness, which is a really good thing! But don't overanalyze to death - I really don't think food has to be that complicated. Of course, we go through a lot of complicated material in the book - maybe we make it sound like it's rocket science! It's just that we've strayed so far from real food in today's modern world that we need to do some major overhauling (including some science-y background explanations) to get folks back onto a natural, easy, effortless track. Ain't that ironic?

As you mentioned, there are a whole host of fat sources outside of nuts and seeds for healthy eaters - coconut and coconut products being some of the best for endurance athletes. That having been said, we don't say NO nuts and seeds - I think that's overkill. In the whole scheme of things, processed foods and seed/vegetable oils are the hugest contributors to PUFA overload by far. Eliminate those, and enjoy some nuts and seeds as part of your regular weekly diet without issue. It's all about your context. (And if you're really concerned, prioritize macadamia and hazelnuts, as they contain the least amount of PUFA of all the nuts and seeds.)

Thanks for sharing your perspective! This has been a good dialogue.

Melissa

[melbournegirl]

I learnt some new things, thank you!

[praxisproject]

I love this breakdown of nut PUFAs on MDA http://www.marksdailyapple.com/nuts-omega-6-fats/ it's for a 1/4 cup, so keep that in mind for comparison (I don't know what I'd do with that many pine nuts, I make macadamia pesto).

If you like the higher PUFA nuts, eat more salmon