Monday, August 4, 2008

Happy Cows and Fish Oil

Here's an inspiring friend and buddy... Ms. Happy Cow like the rest of the happy cows in my neighborhood (see last photo from my camera). Everytime I run by one of the cows grazing on fresh clover and grass and absorbing full spectrum sunlight nearly all day, I have to resist the urge to put on... my dairy-maid outfit! And start milking! Here's the tribute to happy cows (and their DHA, EPA and CLA) which make ideas at the Animal Pharm (and my brain) possible...


This picture is courtesy of Bay Nature which showcases Mt. Diablo well in the background and more happy cows.

The benefits from dietary fat and protein sourced from grass- and clover-fed cows include hitting my favorite family of metabolic and proliferative switches in the mammalian kingdom... PPAR -- alpha gamma and delta! Not only does consumpation of dietary protein like beef and whey dairy protein activate mTOR and indirectly PPAR-delta, a natural fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) found only in the meat and milk of pasture-fed cows like the ones in the picture also directly binds PPAR receptors. Like many mysteries and secrets revealed by my MILFy buff girlfriends, CLA grows muscle to be defined, lean, and tight. Body fat significantly decreases and minimizes (but it aint a miracle -- you still need to work a little, ie lift and pump and eat right). What girl (or TYPer) wouldn't want that? Additionally CLA reduces cancer and reduces proliferation.
CLA is produced by the bacteria in the bellies of ruminants who consume grass or clover (not hay or grains).

Food sources of CLA (and Vits K2, D3, A, Butyric acid, EPA, DHA) :
--pasture-fed cowmilk (at most good health food stores: Organic Pastures $6.99/qt)
--pasture-fed cowmilk cheese, butter, raw butter oil
--pasture-fed goat milk, dairy products
Protein sources with CLA (and DHA+EPA/aka 'fish oil'):
--pasture-fed beef
--pasture-fed lamb
--pasture-fed sheep
--pasture-fed goat
--pasture-fed bison, wild bison
--wild deer, elk, antelope



Of course I like CLA because also it potently binds and activates PPAR -- all of them. Alpha, gamma and beta/delta. This is why my muscles feel so wonderful and grow well (after like... some strain and pain... scrubbing those plaquey-toilets at home).

CLA raises muscle mass with resistance training in humans and reduces weight in the obese humans (and in rats):
  • Lowery LM, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid enhances muscle size and strength gains in novice bodybuilders. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 30(5):S182, 1998.
  • Pinkoski C, et al. The effects of conjugated linoleic acid supplementation during resistance training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Feb;38(2):339-48.
  • Tarnopolsky MA, Safdar A. The potential benefits of creatine and conjugated linoleic acid as adjuncts to resistance training in older adults. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2008 Feb;33(1):213-27. Review.
  • Blankson H, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid reduces body fat mass in overweight and obese humans. J Nutr. 2000 Dec;130(12):2943-8.
  • Gaullier JM, et al. Six months supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid induces regional-specific fat mass decreases in overweight and obese. Br J Nutr. 2007 Mar;97(3):550-60.
  • Gaullier JM, et al. Supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid for 24 months is well tolerated by and reduces body fat mass in healthy, overweight humans. J Nutr. 2005 Apr;135(4):778-84.
  • Gaullier JM, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation for 1 y reduces body fat mass in healthy overweight humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jun;79(6):1118-25.
  • Risérus U, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduced abdominal adipose tissue in obese middle-aged men with signs of the metabolic syndrome: a randomised controlled trial.
    Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001 Aug;25(8):1129-35.
  • Eyjolfson V, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid improves insulin sensitivity in young, sedentary humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 May;36(5):814-20.
  • Liu LF, et al. Combined effects of rosiglitazone and conjugated linoleic acid on adiposity, insulin sensitivity, and hepatic steatosis in high-fat-fed mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2007 Jun;292(6):G1671-82.
  • Park Y, et al. Changes in body composition in mice during feeding and withdrawal of conjugated linoleic acid. Lipids. 1999 Mar;34(3):243-8.



Muller et al studied how if human vascular cells also may carry CLA as ruminant tissues do... guess what he found? Müller A, et al. Detection of conjugated dienoic fatty acids in human vascular smooth muscle cells treated with conjugated linoleic acid. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005 Dec 15;1737(2-3):145-51.

"Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) have attracted scientific interest due to their potential beneficial effects on atherosclerosis. Recent studies demonstrated that conjugated metabolites of CLA are found in tissues of CLA-fed animals and cultured cells treated with CLA. This observation has gained in importance since it has recently been shown that these metabolites of CLA exert specific biological activities...Examination of fatty acid composition of total cell lipids ...revealed a significant isomer-specific formation of conjugated metabolites of CLA such as CD16:2, CD20:2 and CD22:2 in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells treated with various CLA isomers. Different CD16:2/CLA ratios between various CLA isomers as observed in the present study indicate that fatty acid metabolism is differently affected by the configuration of the double bonds. In conclusion, the observation from the present study suggests that the effects of CLA in vascular cells might not only be mediated by CLA itself but also by its conjugated metabolites."


Of course synthetic CLA is artificially created with hydrogenated cheap industrial veggie oils which is not likely to be as beneficial (longterm) as naturally derived CLA from whole foods.

RELATED LINKS:
  • Higher concentrations of vitamin E, CLA, long change omega-3 fatty acids in pasture fed cow milk. Leiber F, et al. A study on the causes for the elevated n-3 fatty acids in cows' milk of alpine origin. Lipids. 2005 Feb;40(2):191-202. PMID: 15884768

  • Grain (corn) feeding lowers CLA and content of other important nutrients like Butyric acid (4-carbon fatty acid) in the fat of cow milk. Stockdale CR, et al. Influence of pasture and concentrates in the diet of grazing dairy cows on the fatty acid composition of milk. J Dairy Res. 2003 Aug;70(3):267-76. PMID: 12916820

  • Beef meat considered a source of 'omega-3s' EPA/DHA when pasture fed. Mann NJ, et al. Feeding regimes affect fatty acid composition in Australian beef cattle. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2003;12 Suppl:S38. PMID: 15023647

  • Ponnampalam EN, et al. Effect of feeding systems on omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid and trans fatty acids in Australian beef cuts: potential impact on human health. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2006;15(1):21-9. PMID: 16500874

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post! I cringe whenever I see a whole page ad in the newspaper for RealCaliforniaMilk, knowing that too many huge California herds are confined in unspeakable conditions, producing less than wholesome milk.

I'm an Organic Pastures raw, pasture-based milk consumer, too! Though we seem to get a better price on it here in SD county ($7.25/half gallon, I think, and well worth every penny, IMO). Love the OP butter, too, especially dripping on my morning eggs.

Dr. B G said...

Hi Anna!

Thanks! I have to show you soon our cookies HHHHMMhhhmmmm... so many people couldn't believe it was wheat free!

Oops the price is for half-gallon (sorry).

Yes, I feel bad for Organic Pastures with the legislation trying to put them out of business. The 'conventionalist' dairy farmers (with their added 'milk powder', homogenization-chemicals and toxic grain-fed obese/diabetic cow milk) are trying to snuff them out. Serioiusly I may need to milk my own neighborhood cow (on the sly HEE!) and churn my own butta soon!

-G

Gyan said...

There are claims that EPA is not normally found in mammalian tissues. Thus a grass-fed cow should not produce beef/milk containing EPA.
Do you agree?
Personally I have no idea/

Anonymous said...

Hi.

I wanted to see what it was about butter that helped with the uptake of vitamin k. I was hoping maybe it was lauric acid, which would make coconut oil good, too.
It turned out that it was butyric acid. Oh well. But then I went to do a search for the study I got that from, to post here, and it turns out octanoic acid is pretty good too, and there's some of that in coconut oil. I haven't found anything that checked vitamin k absorption with coconut oil itself. I was looking at a study on cheese and the appearance of butyric acid with ageing. It took 75 days for it to show up in appreciable amounts with raw milk, and more than 200 days with pasteurized milk, and the pasteurized levels of butyric acid peaked at much lower levels.
Both raw milk and vitamin k are illegal here in Ontario. http://www.springerlink.com/content/u1976835669554w1/

Corn oil reduces vitamin k absorption. Eating more and more greens while dousing them in polyunsaturate oils probably lowers effective dietary vitamin k intake.

Dr. B G said...

Hi Donny,

That is very interesting about Butyric acid -- I love that stuff! It binds PPAR!

Sorry to hear about the tight restrictions in Canada -- wuss up with that??!! What happened to laissez faire? Doesn't the govt have more to do but to restrict self-empowered preventive wellness and optimal health of its populace.

-G

Dr. B G said...

Hi Gyan,

That is curious! Do you have a reference? I believe we produce EPA and even convert it (though minimally) from other fatty acids and precursors.

-G

Gyan said...

From www.cholesterol-and-health.com

The PUFA Report Part 1: A Critical Review of the Requirement for Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

By Chris Masterjohn. Cholesterol-And-Health.Com Special Reports Volume 1 Issue 2. 25 pages, 3 figures, 114 references. $15.00

Abstract

Current reviews and textbooks call the omega-6 linoleic acid and the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid “essential fatty acids” (EFA) and cite the EFA requirement as one to four percent of calories. Research suggests, however, that the omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) and the omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are the only fatty acids that are truly essential. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) occurs in fish products but is probably not a normal constituent of the mammalian body and in excess it interferes with essential AA metabolism.

Dr. B G said...

Gyan,

AWESOME! Thank you -- I'll check it out!

-G

Anne said...

Anyone know anything about butter oil with x factor? It has butyric acid and a whole bunch of other acids. I have heard that the x-factor is vitamin K. http://www.greenpasture.org/products/butter-oil/1022 I do not have any connection to this business. This is something my doctor recommended.

Dr. B G said...

Hi Anne,

The benefits for butt-a (pasture-fed raw) from what I've read are:
--antiinflammatory
--higher HDL
--lower TGs, small LDL, LDL
--joint pain reduction
--healing autoimmune disease
--et cetera

Vitamin K2 have been identified as X-factor I believe and is heat-stable. Some of the components of milk not only bind PPAR but also important vital steroid nuclear receptors like FXR and LXR which potently improve lipoproteins.

Hope that helps!
-G

Anne said...

Thank you for your comments, dr. b g.

Dr. B G said...

Anne,

I am thinking about trying it for overall health as well (I'm some hormone issues which hopefully will be brief).

I'll let you know if I notice any benefits. I'd love to hear if you see improvements too!

Do you cook with coconut oil? I'm considering switching out our canola oil as well.

-G

Anne said...

I don't use much oil. I use EVOO for salads and other cooking. I tried a coconut oil and I did not like the taste. Someone told me I bought the wrong brand, but I have not tried it again.

I will let you know if I see results with the butter oil. It may take a while as the results I want are no further problems with CAD and improvement in my bone densitiy.

I tried MK-7 and it gave me GI problems. I am very sensitive to yeast so my reaction may be because it is from a fermented source.

Dr. B G said...

Good luck and congratulations on finding a doctor aware of solutions outside of the box!

Jake said...

I have been on the Protein Power Diet for a month. I plan on taking 3.4 grams of CLA per day for two months as well as staying on the diet. My reason for doing so is that I am not so concerned with my weight as I am in getting rid of my wheat belly.

What do you think?

Dr. B G said...

Jake,

Your not from Montana r u?

I do think CLA has value and may improve Lp(a) and HDL-2 for some. Please let me know if you see great improvements.

The Protein Power diet is great. Dr. Eades and his wife have done a wonderful job on optimizing health and longevity with their plan. I've asked Dr. Eades on his blog about Lp(a) and he has observed great improvements in his practice. That does not surprise me at all.

Thanks! G

Jake said...

Yes I am living in Montana. I will go ahead with my CLA plan and we will see what happens.

Dr. B G said...

Jake,

Thanks for your wonderful insights and comments on the TYP forum!

-G