flax oil, tryptophan, unsaturated fats, cancer etc

[taurusrc]

Read http://www.askwaltstollmd.com/archives/oils/49752.html

I was astounded when I read that article and will read it
again and try to figure out whether we should pay
attention to it.

Ora

[Pizza Gurl]

speak for yourself

<taurusrc@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ucrib0to8m54op3n1jidq4c0s513cj0n7t@4ax.com...
> Read http://www.askwaltstollmd.com/archives/oils/49752.html
>
> I was astounded when I read that article and will read it
> again and try to figure out whether we should pay
> attention to it.
>
> Ora

[Larry Hoov]

<taurusrc@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ucrib0to8m54op3n1jidq4c0s513cj0n7t@4ax.com...
> Read http://www.askwaltstollmd.com/archives/oils/49752.html
>
> I was astounded when I read that article and will read it
> again and try to figure out whether we should pay
> attention to it.
>
> Ora

There is a plausibility to the thesis, which along with the
capable writing, lends a note of credibility. However, when I
take a closer look at a particular aspect of implicated
metabolism (one I'm more familiar with), and go to the primary
references, I don't find myself drawing the same conclusions
reached by this author. Moreover, there is quite another issue
to consider. In scanning the references, I didn't find one
more recent than 1989. Many, in fact, date from the 1940s and
50s, and some from even earlier than that. In essence, then,
this entire essay is anachronistic. It is very difficult for
me to give full credence to a body of work which does not
incorporate any modern science at all. The very issue of
non-essentiality of PUFAs is undergoing a rather significant
paradigm shift (I hate that phrase, but it seems appropriate
here). Accepting the implications of a thesis based on a
primary assumption which may be fatally flawed might require
more willful blindness than I'm prepared to offer.

Lar

[taurusrc]

The reason I was researching was because my neighbor told me
that she is taking flax oil based on her doctor's
recommendation because it reduces her cholesterol. I started
taking the capsules and a few weeks later had a blood test.
My cholesterol increased a little but my TSH jumped from 1.24
to 20.83. My doctor increased my thyroid meds from 120 to 180
mg. daily.

However I have been wondering about the sudden increase in
TSH. I am not using the oil any more mainly because it did not
reduce my cholesterol.

Ora

On Sun, 30 May 2004 11:17:24 -0400, "Larry Hoover"
<larryhoover@sympatico.ca> wrote:

>
><taurusrc@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:ucrib0to8m54op3n1jidq4c0s513cj0n7t@4ax.com...
>> Read http://www.askwaltstollmd.com/archives/oils/49752.html
>>
>> I was astounded when I read that article and will read it
>> again and try to figure out whether we should pay
>> attention to it.
>>
>> Ora
>
>There is a plausibility to the thesis, which along with the
>capable writing, lends a note of credibility. However, when I
>take a closer look at a particular aspect of implicated
>metabolism (one I'm more familiar with), and go to the
>primary references, I don't find myself drawing the same
>conclusions reached by this author. Moreover, there is quite
>another issue to consider. In scanning the references, I
>didn't find one more recent than 1989. Many, in fact, date
>from the 1940s and 50s, and some from even earlier than that.
>In essence, then, this entire essay is anachronistic. It is
>very difficult for me to give full credence to a body of work
>which does not incorporate any modern science at all. The
>very issue of non-essentiality of PUFAs is undergoing a
>rather significant paradigm shift (I hate that phrase, but it
>seems appropriate here). Accepting the implications of a
>thesis based on a primary assumption which may be fatally
>flawed might require more willful blindness than I'm prepared
>to offer.
>
>Lar

[Larry Hoov]

<taurusrc@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:bc2kb0lr5ghavg68l1sbiqk7nsn2gnbm0p@4ax.com...
> The reason I was researching was because my neighbor told me
> that she is
taking
> flax oil based on her doctor's recommendation because it
> reduces her cholesterol. I started taking the capsules and a
> few weeks later had a
blood
> test. My cholesterol increased a little but my TSH jumped
> from 1.24 to
20.83.
> My doctor increased my thyroid meds from 120 to 180
> mg. daily.
>
> However I have been wondering about the sudden increase in
> TSH. I am not
using
> the oil any more mainly because it did not reduce my
> cholesterol.
>
> Ora

Long-chain omega-3s are associated with changes in the
cholesterol composition, vis a vis LDL and HDL. If you only
had total cholesterol assessed, maybe that's why? Or not
enough time had passed?

I'm not totally surprised you had a thyroid response, but I am
a little startled by the magnitude of it. Linolenic increases
free T4, but reduces
T4:T3 conversion, and reduces T3 receptor binding. Given your
spike in TSH, it looks like the latter effect was quite
substantial. Was your supplementation of PUFA a significant
change from your typical intake?

Lar

[taurusrc]

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 11:28:50 -0400, "Larry Hoover"
<larryhoover@sympatico.ca> wrote:

>
><taurusrc@pacbell.net> wrote in message
>news:bc2kb0lr5ghavg68l1sbiqk7nsn2gnbm0p@4ax.com...
>> The reason I was researching was because my neighbor told
>> me that she is
>taking
>> flax oil based on her doctor's recommendation because it
>> reduces her cholesterol. I started taking the capsules and
>> a few weeks later had a
>blood
>> test. My cholesterol increased a little but my TSH jumped
>> from 1.24 to
>20.83.
>> My doctor increased my thyroid meds from 120 to 180
>> mg. daily.
>>
>> However I have been wondering about the sudden increase in
>> TSH. I am not
>using
>> the oil any more mainly because it did not reduce my
>> cholesterol.
>>
>> Ora
>
>Long-chain omega-3s are associated with changes in the
>cholesterol composition, vis a vis LDL and HDL. If you only
>had total cholesterol assessed, maybe that's why? Or not
>enough time had passed?

No, all of them went up except the trigs which dropped a
little. My trigs are typically very low.
>
>I'm not totally surprised you had a thyroid response, but I
>am a little startled by the magnitude of it. Linolenic
>increases free T4, but reduces
>T4:T3 conversion, and reduces T3 receptor binding. Given your
> spike in TSH, it looks like the latter effect was quite
> substantial. Was your supplementation of PUFA a
> significant change from your typical intake?
>
>Lar
>
No, it was not. However when I first heard about flax back in
1998, I started using the ground seeds and my cholesterol went
down considerably. I am going to start using it again and see
what happens.

Ora