There has been a lot of talk in the world lately about the
role of fatty acids in health. Just to clear the air a
little bit, I want to discuss briefly what fatty acids are
and how they function.
Fats are made up of several different classes of fatty
acids. There are three classes of fatty acids that occur
in nature.
The first class is the saturated fatty acids, which can be
divided further into short, medium, and long-chain fatty
acids. The second class is the monounsaturated fatty
acids. The third class is the polyunsaturated fatty acids.
There is a fourth class called trans-fatty acids, which for
the most part do not occur in nature. These are
unsaturated fatty acids that have been chemically altered
by food manufacturers in order to increase the shelf life
of fat-containing products. This is what is produced when
the manufacturer makes partially hydrogenated oils.
Trans-fatty acids are shaped differently than their natural
counterparts. This means that when the body incorporates
them into body structures, they change the shape of that
structure and do not function as well as their natural
counterpart.
In the last forty years, there has been a tremendous amount
of misinformation published about the role of fats in
health. It is impossible to go over all the information at
this time. To summarize briefly, probably everything you
have ever heard about the dangers of saturated fat and
dietary cholesterol is completely wrong.
However, almost all of the ills that have been attributed
to saturated fat and dietary cholesterol are in fact caused
by dietary trans-fatty acids. Sure this is a sweeping
generalization. It is surprisingly and unfortunately
fairly accurate.
How did all this misinformation happen?
It is actually a result of a very successful 40-year
marketing campaign conducted by the commercial food
industry. Lest you get the impression that I am a
bleeding-heart liberal anti-establishment organic
vegetarian health food fanatic freak (when actually I am
not even a registered Democrat), you have to understand
what happened.
If you check the processed foods in your house, you will
find that almost all of them contain partially hydrogenated
vegetable oils. The commercial food industry runs on
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. The reason is that
these processed oils do not get rancid.
Regular vegetable oil goes bad very quickly. However,
hydrogenated vegetable oil doesn’t go bad.
Therefore, in order to give processed foods a long shelf
life, the food industry uses hydrogenated vegetable oil.
Without them, most foods would have a shelf life of only a
few days.
How did the industry go about promoting the use of
hydrogenated vegetable oils?
When these oils first came out there were a few initial
favorable studies that also condemned the evils of
saturated fats. Armed with these studies, the commercial
oil industry launched a campaign to promote vegetable oils
as healthy.
The results were that saturated animal fats and cholesterol
were labeled bad and polyunsaturated oils labeled good.
The partial hydrogenation/trans-fatty acid issue was swept
under the table.
Now, forty years later, with the increase of obesity and
chronic disease, we are beginning to realize that the real
culprit is the trans-fatty acids provided by the commercial
food industry.
Essential Fatty Acids
There are two essential fatty acids, linoleic acid and
alpha-linolenic acid. They are classified as omega-6 and
omega-3 fatty acids, respectively. The body needs these
fatty acids, but is unable to manufacture them. They can
only be obtained through diet.
The minimum amount of linoleic acid thought to be required
is 2-3% of the daily caloric intake. The minimum amount of
alpha-linolenic acid required is .5-1.5% of the daily
caloric intake.
There are other conditionally essential fatty acids that
the body can make. However, there are a number of
interfering factors, such as foods, health conditions or
genetic dispositions, which make these fatty acids dietary
essentials for some people.
The conditionally essential fatty acids include
gamma-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic
acid, and docosahexaenoic acid.
Essential and conditionally essential fatty acids play a
vital role in the body. They are chemical precursors to a
number of hormone regulators, called prostaglandins.
These, along with other fats, make up the structural matrix
of every cell in the body.
Cell membranes are made primarily of lipids. Dietary fat is
essential for proper absorption of certain vitamins and
other nutrients.
Fatty acids are a structural component of all brain cells,
the blood-brain barrier, and the myelin sheath that wraps
around nerves. All cell membranes, including nerve cell
membranes, are composed of phospholipids, which contain
large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Fatty acids help with nerve transmission. They are
necessary for proper growth and are the basic building
blocks of the prostaglandins that are essential for normal
brain function. The brain is 25% fat. Much of this fat is
in the form of essential fatty acids.
Essential Fatty Acid Deficiencies
So, why do we need to know all this? It is important to
realize that the average person is deficient in essential
fatty acids.
It is also known that there is a relationship between brain
function, mental health, and fatty acid intake. Depression
is clearly related to fatty acid deficiencies. Low
cholesterol is a risk factor for suicide.
Since fatty acid deficiency plays a significant role in
other psychiatric conditions, it was thought that it might
be involved in ADHD.
There is good reason to suspect this. Symptoms of fatty
acid deficiency include eczema, dry skin, asthma, thirst,
frequent urination, and allergies. It just so happens that
all of these symptoms are common in ADHD children. Also,
males need more fatty acids than females. There is a 3:1
male to female ratio in ADHD.
Therefore, it was thought there might be a relationship
between fatty acid deficiency and ADHD. A number of
studies have been done, and it does seem that such a
relationship does exist in a certain segment of ADHD
children.
Studies show that children who have deficiencies in omega-3
have more behavioral, learning, and health problems than do
normal children. It is interesting to note that children
with low levels of omega-6 fatty acids do not have these
problems. They do, however, have more colds and used
antibiotic more frequently than their normal peers.
Does Giving Essential Fatty Acid Supplements Help in ADHD?
This really is the question. Can we use essential fatty
acids to treat our ADHD children? This question has been
studied extensively.
Though there is some disagreement among researchers the
bulk of the evidence seems to indicate that fatty acid
supplementation will not help relieve ADHD.
Does that mean that you should not give your ADHD child
essential fatty acids supplements?
It depends. If your child has any of the symptoms of fatty
acid deficiency, such as eczema, dry skin, asthma, thirst,
frequent urination, or allergies then I think it is worth a
try.
You may not see a big improvement in his ADHD, but you
probably will see significant improvement in his other
symptoms, particularly eczema and asthma. You certainly
will not harm your ADHD child, or for that matter your
other children, by giving extra essential fatty acids.
One thing I would stress is that you do not try to limit
your child’s dietary intake of healthy fats.
Remember what I wrote earlier about trans-fatty acids and
hydrogenated oils. Your children should avoid them and you
should avoid them.
You should give your children whole milk rather than skim
milk for milk drinkers and feed them plenty of eggs. Even
though there has been a lot of bad press about saturated
fat and cholesterol in these products, it is becoming clear
that most of this information was incorrect.
Your child needs healthy fats for the proper development of
his brain. You should make sure he gets what he needs.
Conclusion
There are numerous other nutritional modalities that do
make a difference both in ADHD and in general health.
As I said earlier, I am unable to deal adequately with the
other nutritional modalities that would help so many
children with ADHD. You should realize, however, ADHD
children suffer from nutritional deficiencies more than
other children, and it is likely that these deficiencies
have a lot to do with why they have ADHD.
----------------------------------------------------
Anthony Kane, MD is a physician and international lecturer
who has been helping parents of children with ADHD and
Oppositional Defiant Disorder online since 2003. Get help
with Oppositional Defiant Disorder child behavior
(http://addadhdadvances.com/ODD.html), help with defiant
teens (http://addadhdadvances.com/ntpcentral.html ) ADHD
treatment (http://addadhdadvances.com/childyoulove.html )
and ADHD information.
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