I saw for the first time yesterday a copy of the Drs Eades' book,
Protein Power, about which I have seen favourable comments on this
list. Their more recent book does not yet seem to have hit our UK
bookshops.

I was surprised to see there that they recommend restricting foods
containing alpha-linolenic acid (the precursor to the omega-3
series of unsaturated fatty acids), preferring instead foods
containing linoleic acid (the precursor to the omega-6 series).

That seems contrary to the usual advice which would lead in the
opposite direction, to prefer a diet containing a lower ratio of
omega-6 to omega-3 than is usual in the US and UK.

I have read that alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid compete for
delta-6-desturase (D6D), which is the enzyme responsible for
desaturating both as a first step in their respective pathways, and
so I can understand why fish oil is probably a better source of
omega-3 fatty acids than foods containing alpha-linolenic acid,
since it provides EPA and DHA without requiring that first step
using D6D.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a clear contradiction between the
Drs Eades' advice and the usual unqualified advice to decrease the
omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.

Perhaps I have misunderstood something.

Peter