December 9, 2004:
You probably already know about omega 3 fatty
acids. These essential components of the human diet are
much touted these days for their ability to fight everything
from circulatory problems to depression. Iron Magazine,
a leading online bodybuilding and fitness magazine (www.ironmagazine.com/review9.html),
digs deeper into the benefits of conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA), another essential and physiologically active fatty
acid. Although less widely understood than omega 3s, this
essential fatty acid is thought to:
- fight cancer
- increase metabolism
- reduce cholesterol, triglycerides, and fat accumulation
- decrease internal oxidation
- increase muscle mass
Although CLA was virtually unknown just a couple of
decades ago, there are a number of excellent animal
studies that convincingly support these claims. As Iron
Magazine quips, “The cattle, pigs and chickens
are all low-fat, high-muscle machines - sort of like
a barnyard version of Muscle Beach.” Data from
human CLA trials are also starting to accumulate, and
point to similar human health benefits.
All joking aside, the most important health problem
afflicting our nation right now is obesity, according
to the National Institute of Health. USDA nutritionist
C. Welt, in his study "Benefits from human nutrition
research" of 1992, estimated that 500,000 lives
would be saved annually if minimum daily recommended
allowances of vitamins and nutrients were met in the
national diet. Moreover, he estimates that 80 percent
of the obesity epidemic can be attributed to poor diets.
So if CLA proves to be an effective protector against
cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, its impact
will be a block buster. In a recent article in Professional
Animal Scientist, M.F. Weis and colleagues postulate
that the diverse health benefits of CLA are the result
of its potential ability to reduce inflammation, a common
physical reaction linked to degenerative diseases and
aging.
CLA is an unusual fatty acid that occurs naturally
as a byproduct of bacterial metabolism occurring in
the complex stomachs of cows, sheep, and goats. Dr.
Mir from Ag Canada suggests that CLA has decreased in
the North American diet by at least by two thirds in
the last fifty years, due to reduction in animal fats
in human diets and to the change of ruminant management
from pasture to feedlot. According Dr. Dhiman of Utah
State University, CLA in pastured cows is 5 times higher
than in commodity milk. Drs. Olson and Dhiman have shown
that modifying feed rations can help reduce the negative
impacts of feed concentrates on levels of CLA in meat
and milk.
Scientists who study CLA have found the following effects:
- Pigs produce leaner and firmer bacon due to CLA
induced fat metabolism (Allan Schinckel, Purdue University)
- CLA-supplemented dairy cows produce milk that has
higher protein and less fat than conventional milk
(Dale Bauman, Cornell University)
- Rabbits supplemented with CLA have less arterial
plaque (Kritchevsky, Wistar Institute).
- Rats fed CLA-enriched butter had reduced mammary
cancer rates and risks (Clement Ip, Roswell Park Cancer
Research Institute, Buffalo)
- CLA inhibited the growth of human cancer cells
in laboratory cultures (T.D. Schultz, Anticancer
Research)
- Women fed a diet of grass-fed meat and dairy products
showed significantly lowered breast cancer development
than women eating foods from grain-fed animals in
Finland (Aro et al., Cancer).
To compare differences between pasture and feedlot
beef, www.farmprofitability.org/research/beef/linoleic.htm
summarizes the CLA levels in beef produced by these
two approaches to animal husbandry. Normal feedlot beef
had one-third to one-sixth of the CLA concentration
found in pastured beef. What’s more, new research
shows that consumers are growing increasingly willing
to support these types of changes in animal production.
Recent reports suggest that consumers, as they learn
of the potential health benefits of particular foods,
are willing to pay premiums for these foods because
they see health values in their use (www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/staff/ecolabels/index.htm).
Paying a premium for higher quality food that provides
a more solid foundation for human health is a good national
investment. The percentage of Gross National Product
devoted to medicine now exceeds 20 percent, a figure
that is considered “out of control” by experts
in the field. Much of this national expenditure is the
result of poor diet and lifestyle choices.
Medical approaches that focus on symptomatic treatments
of these diseases do not address the root causes of
our health care crisis. Instead, we need to focus on
controlling our forks, and improving the quality of
the foods we put on them.
By changing and improving our focus as consumers, we
can begin to transition away from a faltering food system
to provide an alternative food future for ourselves,
demanding more optimized nutrition and healthier lifestyles
for ourselves and others.
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