Responding to Aaron's investigations of the insulin/eicosanoid
connection as presented by Sears, the Eades in their book, Protein
Power, do not give references for their assertions (there are no
references at all in their book, though they are available on the
Internet).

The Eades make these points:

1.  The 1982 Nobel prize was awarded for research on eicosanoids
(who? what findings?)

2.  That a high carbohydrate diet (as well as trans fatty acids and
alpha linolenic acid) inhibits Delta 6 desaturase, the enzyme
controlling the conversion of Linoleic acid to eicosanoids.

3.  That the pathway synthesizing linoleic acid to series one
(prostacyclins or good eicosanoids) or series two eicosanoids
(thromboxanes and leukotrienes or bad ones) is activated by insulin,
which favors the series two profile, and down regulated by
glucagon.

I can't evaluate these claims.

Gurr in "Fats", Garrow and James eds. Human Nutrition and Dietetics
at page 91 concludes agnostically: "The mechanisms by which the
relative proportions of the different eicosanoids are regulated,
particularly how diet influences this regulation, and the
quantitative relationship between the requirements for essential
fatty acids, which are measured in grams, and the daily production
of eicosanoids, which is measured in micrograms, are subjects for
further research."

One of his charts does indicate that antioxidants prevent the
conversion of arachidonic acid to hydroperoxy acids from which
leukotrine B4 is synthesized.  Leukotrine B4 is inflammatory.  N3
acids may inhibit the formation of leukotrine B4.  Gurr states
further: "In general, the potency of eicosanoids derived from n-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids is less than that of those derived from
n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

I hope we can track through this topic which is a central theme in
two huge selling diet books and of interest to us all.  One of the
references in Loren's brilliant post suggests an insulin/eicosanoid
connection mediated through magnesium deficiency: 33.     Nadler JL
et al.  Magnesium deficiency produces insulin resistance and
increased thromboxane synthesis.  Hypertension 1993;21:1024-29.

Arthur De Vany
Professor
 <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.socsci.uci.edu/mbs/personnel/devany/devany.html
University of California
Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences
3151 Social Science Plaza
Irvine, CA  92697-5100