On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, Peter Smith wrote:

> I would be interested to read more about the 1997 research,
> particularly since Sears still says (at www.drsears.com)
> that foods containing arachidonic acids are better avoided.
>
> Todd, would you please point me in the direction of some reading
> matter on this topic?

Sure.  Start here with the abstracts below.  Incidentally, I also
pointed out to the staff at the Zone site that Sears'
recommendations to eat favor lean chicken breast and tuna over
beef did not square with the AA content of these foods in the
USDA database.  They replied that it was "impossible" that beef
could have less AA than these foods.  Not an entirely helpful
response.

Note that the AA levels in the studies below are really quite
high, higher than one would expect to find in any natural diet.
Note also that the Nurse's study failed to find *any* adverse
effects from whole egg consumption.  And finally, there is the
story reported in Protein Power about the elderly man who was
discovered to be living on about 20 eggs per day and little else.
He was in good health.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]
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Lipids 32 (4): 415-420 (Apr 1997)

A human dietary arachidonic acid supplementation study conducted
in a metabolic research unit: rationale and design

Nelson GJ, Kelley DS, Emken EA, Phinney SD, Kyle D, Ferretti A

Western Human Nutrition Research Center, ARS, USDA, San Francisco,
California 94129, USA.

While there are many reports of studies that fed arachidonic acid
(AA) to animals, there are very few reports of AA feeding to
humans under controlled conditions. This 130-d study was
conceived as a controlled, symmetrical crossover design with
healthy, adult male volunteers.  The results of these studies
will be presented in the next five papers from this symposium.

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Lipids 32 (4): 421-425 (Apr 1997)

The effect of dietary arachidonic acid on platelet function,
platelet fatty acid composition, and blood coagulation in humans

Nelson GJ, Schmidt PC, Bartolini G, Kelley DS, Kyle D

Western Human Nutrition Research Center, ARS, USDA, San Francisco,
California 94129, USA.

The results from this study on blood clotting parameters and in
vitro platelet aggregation suggest that adding 1.5 g/d of dietary
AA for 50 d to a typical Western diet containing about 200 mg of
AA produces no observable physiological changes in blood
coagulation and thrombotic tendencies in healthy, adult males
compared to the unsupplemented diet. Thus, moderate intakes of
foods high in AA have few effects on blood coagulation, platelet
function, or platelet fatty acid composition.

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Lipids 32 (4): 427-433 (Apr 1997)

The effect of dietary arachidonic acid on plasma lipoprotein
distributions, apoproteins, blood lipid levels, and tissue
fatty acid composition in humans

Nelson GJ, Schmidt PC, Bartolini G, Kelley DS, Phinney SD, Kyle D,
Silbermann S, Schaefer EJ

Western Human Nutrition Research Center, ARS, USDA, SAn Francisco,
California 94129, USA.


A 50 day controlled trial with a high AA diet.  After consuming
the high-AA diet, the total red blood cell fatty acid composition
was significantly enriched in AA which mainly replaced linoleic
acid.  These results indicate that dietary AA is incorporated
into tissue lipids, but selectively into different tissues and
lipid classes.  Perhaps more importantly, the results demonstrate
that dietary AA does not alter blood lipids or lipoprotein levels
or have obvious adverse health effects at this level and duration
of feeding.  Dietary AA had no statistically significant effect
on the blood cholesterol levels, lipoprotein distribution, or
apoprotein levels.  Adipose tissue fatty acid composition was not
influenced by AA feeding.

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Lipids 32 (4): 449-456 (Apr 1997)

Effects of dietary arachidonic acid on human immune response

Kelley DS, Taylor PC, Nelson GJ, Schmidt PC, Mackey BE, Kyle D

USDA, ARS, Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Presidio of
San F Francisco, California 94129, USA.

However, the lack of any adverse effects (by AA) on Immune
Response indicates that supplementation with AA may be done
safely when needed for other health reasons.