Elevated cholesterol, and possibly inflammation, plays a role in causing heart disease. Inflammatory prostaglandins from white blood cells and platelets are synthesized from arachidonic acid (AA). Antiinflammatory products are generated from the omega-6 precursor fatty acid dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA), the product of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) elongation.
Many studies have shown that supplementing the diet with fish oils enriched in omega-3 fats EPA and DHA tend to reduce triglycerides and increase HDL (good) cholesterol concentrations.
However, studies have gotten mixed results regarding its effect on LDL (bad) cholesterol and few studies have examined the effects of adding fat supplement GLA to omega-3 fat supplements.
In a new study involving 31 women, researchers compared the effects of EPA and DHA supplementation (4 grams) by itself to that of EPA and DHA with GLA supplementation (1 or 2 grams). The combination of EPA, DHA and GLA tended to reduce LDL cholesterol by about 12 percent.
A combination of a 4:2 ratio of the supplements (4 g EPA and DHA, 2 g GLA) resulted in an average of a 15 percent decrease in non-HDL cholesterol concentrations, which translates to an over 40 percent decrease in heart disease risk.
American Journal Clinical Nutrition January 2003;77:37-42
Many diseases and conditions such as heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis have inflammatory components that can contribute to the cause of a disease or worsen its manifestations in the body. AA, DGLA, and EPA are prostaglandin precursors whose metabolic products may exert significant influence on cellular functions.
By increasing the amounts of anti-inflammatory precursors like EPA, DHA and GLA, it appears that one can induce favorable biochemical manipulation of inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease.
If you suffer from heart disease or rheumatoid arthritis you should consider using a GLA supplement to help balance out the inflammatory prostaglandins. I personally prefer the use of GLA supplements from Evening Primrose Oil but, interestingly, this study found the benefits with GLA from Borage oil, which is less expensive.
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