"Flaxseed Oil Can Raise Plasma ALA, but not EPA"
"Flax oil increased erythrocyte EPA"

Flaxseed oil raises the EPA in the red blood cell but not the plasma ?

Is there a difference .. ?

Flaxseed Oil Can Raise Plasma ALA, but not EPA or DHA
Levels
Background:
Dietary flaxseed may
have significant health-related benefits
due to its high content of the omega-3
fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
However, before extensive work
can be undertaken in clinical populations
to determine its efficacy, basic
information on ALA bioavailability from
flaxseed and the physiological effects of
its ingestion need to be examined.
Objective:
The purpose of this study,
therefore, was to determine the bioavailability
of ALA when the flaxseed
was ingested in the form of whole
seed, milled seed or as flaxseed oil.
Design:
The flaxseed components
(30 g of seed or 6 g of ALA in the oil)
were baked into muffins for delivery
over a three-month test period in
healthy male and female subjects.
Results:
Flaxseed ingestion over a one month
period resulted in significant (P = 0.005) increases
in plasma ALA levels in the flaxseed oil and the milled
flaxseed supplemented groups.
The former group had significantly (P = 0.004)
higher ALA levels than the milled flaxseed group.
The subjects supplemented with whole flaxseed did not
achieve a significant (P > 0.05) increase in plasma ALA levels.
An additional two months of flaxseed ingestion
did not achieve significantly higher levels of plasma ALA in any of
the groups.
However, no significant increase was detected in plasma
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in
any of the flax-fed groups.
There were no changes in plasma cholesterol
or triglycerides or in platelet aggregation at any time point
in any of the groups.
Subjects in all of the groups exhibited some symptoms of
gastro-intestinal discomfort during the early stages of
the study, but these disappeared in the oil and milled
seed groups.
However, compliance was a problem in the whole flaxseed
group.
Conclusion:
In summary, ingestion of flax oil and milled flaxseed
delivered significant levels of ALA to the plasma whereas whole
flaxseed did not. Whole seed and oil preparations induced adverse
gastrointestinal effects within four weeks and these were severe
enough to induce the withdrawal of some subjects from these two
groups. No one withdrew from the group that ingested milled
flaxseedand, therefore, may represent a good form of flaxseed to
avoidserious side-effects and still provide significant increases in
ALA tothe body.
Austria J, et al. Bioavailability of Alpha-Linolenic Acid in Subjects
after
Ingestion of Three Different Forms of Flaxseed. Journal of the
American College of Nutrition 2008;27: 214-221.

-------------------------

Flaxseed oil and fish-oil capsule consumption alters human red blood
cell n-3 fatty acid composition: a multiple-dosing trial comparing 2
sources of n-3 fatty acid.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Sep;88(3):801-9.
Barceló-Coblijn G, Murphy EJ, Othman R, Moghadasian MH, Kashour T,
Friel JK.
Department of Pharmacology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks,
ND, USA.

BACKGROUND:
An increase in plasma n-3 fatty acid content, particularly
eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3; EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid
(22:6n-3; DHA), is observed after consumption of fish oil-enriched
supplements.
Because alpha-linolenic acid (18:3n-3; ALA) is the direct precursor
of EPA and DHA, ALA-enriched supplements such as flax may have a
similar effect, although this hypothesis has been challenged because
of reported low conversion of ALA into DHA. OBJECTIVE:
To address this question, we designed a clinical trial in which flax
oil, fish-oil, and sunflower oil (placebo group) capsules were given
to firefighters (n = 62), a group traditionally exposed to
cardiovascular disease risk factors.
DESIGN:
Firefighters were randomly divided into 6 experimental groups
receiving 1.2, 2.4, or 3.6 g flax oil/d; 0.6 or 1.2 g fish oil/d; or
1 g sunflower oil/d for 12 wk.
Blood was drawn every 2 wk, and the total phospholipid fatty acid
composition of red blood cells was determined.
RESULTS:
As expected, fish oil produced a rapid increase in erythrocyte DHA
and total n-3 fatty acids.
The consumption of either 2.4 or 3.6 g flax oil/d (in capsules) was
sufficient to significantly increase erythrocyte total phospholipid
ALA, EPA, and docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-3) fatty acid content.
There were no differences among groups in plasma inflammatory markers
or lipid profile.
CONCLUSIONS:
The consumption of ALA-enriched supplements for 12 wk was sufficient
to elevate erythrocyte EPA and docosapentaenoic acid content, which
shows the effectiveness of ALA conversion and accretion into
erythrocytes.
The amounts of ALA required to obtain these effects are amounts that
are easily achieved in the general population by dietary
modification.

PMID: 18779299

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