Page 31 - Fall2010

BACK TO TRADITIONAL DIETS pasture-raised animals and small amounts of cod
Experimental evidence shows clearly that the requirement for essential liver oil is especially important. Some individuals
fatty acids is infinitesimal under most conditions and can be easily met by may, for unknown reasons, require higher intakes
eating a diet that includes traditional whole animal foods without necessarily of essential fatty acids. Symptoms of deficiency are
adding any specific fats or oils. There is very little evidence to suggest that shown in Figure 6 and can be used to determine
consuming higher amounts of these fatty acids under ordinary conditions is whether someone might benefit from increasing
health-promoting. their intakes of these foods. Rather than denounc-
At the same time, many foods containing PUFAs provide other impor- ing the essential fatty acids as “toxic” because they
tant nutrients. The Inuit, for example, obtained vitamin D from fatty fish can promote inflammation or oxidative stress, they
and marine oils. Inland-dwelling Inuit who did not have access to these should be seen as delicate and precious nutrients
foods were vulnerable to disorders of calcium deficiency. These included that must be handled properly, taken in appropri-
82
fits of involuntary muscle contractions called tetany, and a type of hysteria ate amounts, and taken within the context of a
called pibloktoq in the native language. Pibloktoq involves several days of traditional diet rich in a broad spectrum of nutrient-
irritability or withdrawal, a sudden excitation wherein the victim flees the dense foods. Within this context, the essential fatty
camp and engages in irrational and dangerous behavior, convulsive seizures, acids will promote robust, radiant and vibrant
a twelve-hour period of coma or stuporous sleep, and a final return to normal. health.
It would be absurd to argue that the Inuit should have avoided the fatty fish and
marine oils that helped prevent these conditions simply because they provided Chris Masterjohn is a frequent contributor to
omega-3 fatty acids in great excess of the amount needed to promote health. Wise Traditions and the creator and maintainer of
The most common plant foods Weston Price mentions in Nutrition and Cholesterol-And-Health.Com, a website dedicated
Physical Degeneration are the banana and sweet potato, but he also reported to extolling the virtues of cholesterol and cholester-
the use of cereal grains and legumes among many groups, and other authors ol-rich foods. He has authored three publications
have reported the use of substantial amounts of nuts and seeds among the published in peer-reviewed journals: a letter in
Australian Aborigines. These foods would provide an excess of linoleic acid, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology
but would also provide a broad spectrum of other useful nutrients. All of the criticizing the conclusions of a study on saturated
groups Price studied consumed organ meats, which reduces the risk of an fat, a letter in the American Heart Journal argu-
imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids by providing preformed ing that safety trials of cholesterol ester transfer
arachidonic acid and DHA, and may supply critical antioxidants necessary protein inhibitors should test the effect of these
to protect excess PUFAs from oxidizing within the body. The use of a single drugs on vitamin E metabolism, and a full-length
component of these diets such as nuts and seeds or high-dose fish oil without hypothesis paper published in Medical Hypotheses
the use of other components such as organ meats, however, may provoke the about the molecular mechanism of vitamin D tox-
ravages of imbalanced PUFA intake and oxidative stress. icity. Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree in History
The need for essential fatty acids increases during childhood, body- and is currently a doctoral student in Nutritional
building, recovery from injury, chronic disease states, pregnancy and lacta- Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He will
tion. During these times, the use of foods such as liver and egg yolks from be a speaker at Wise Traditions 2010.

FIGURE 6. Symptoms of Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency
The following symptoms are based on a combination of animal and human evidence. Some of the symptoms are
associated with severe deficiency and unlikely to be encountered under ordinary circumstances, and there are undoubt-
edly symptoms of each deficiency that are absent from the lists. These lists should help identify likely cases of essential
fatty acid deficiency.

ARACHIDONIC ACID DEFICIENCy DHA DEFICIENCy
• Dry, scaly, and itching skin • Numbness and tingling
• Hair loss • Weakness
• Dandruff • Pain
• Reproductive difficulties in both males and females • Psychological disturbances
• Gastrointestinal disturbances • Poor cognitive function and difficulty learning
• Food intolerances • Poor visual acuity
• Kidney disease • Blurred vision
• Inability to maintain weight • Poor immunity
• Poor immunity • Poor growth
• Poor growth • Inflammation
• Inflammation

FALL 2010 Wise Traditions 31