The power of GLA Part 2

Healthy Skin
GLA is legendary for creating smooth, supple skin, and supplements will easily correct brittle or split nails. I have often said many cosmetic companies would go out of business if the general public knew of its remarkable effects. Ironically, essential fatty acids were once a mainstay of dermatological treatments for a number of skin disorders until the advent о the more toxic, more costly and, I might mention, less effective topical steroids.

Nine studies show that GLA is useful for treating eczema. With dosages between 300 and 500 mg, results may take three to six months to appear, but they are worth the wait. Other research shows that the fatty acid reduces the need for medications to manage atopic dermatitis. The skin condition improved for 111 of the study’s 179 participants, who took four evening primrose capsules with meals twice a day for a total GLA dosage of 360 mg.

Overcoming Dryness
As we age, our bodies tend to lose the ability to secrete natural fluids and lubricants. Even among younger people on a disciplined low-fat diet, dry eyes and dry mouth are common problems. Antihistamines or other drugs also can dry out tear ducts and salivary glands. GLA is an almost certain remedy.

In the study demonstrating the fatty acid’s effect on brittle nails, daily 270 mg supplements (from evening primrose oil) allowed participants to shed tears for the first time in years. The month-long nutrient protocol also included vitamin B6 and vitamin C.

Obesity
The influence of essential fatty acids on metabolism is a relatively new area of investigation. Although the early research was promising, I have not seen any benefit in the usual dose, but several callers describe 13.5 kilogram weight losses without changing their diets. In the one successful study, half of the overweight people lost weight without any conscious effort to diet, just by taking 400 mg per day of GLA.

Other Illnesses
The research, both published and unpublished, is far from conclusive, but GLA might offer some help against neuropathy-related kidney abnormalities, E. coli bacterial infections and schizophrenia. Preliminary work with lab animals suggests it cuts down on calcium excretion, suggesting it may figure into treatments for kidney stones and osteoporosis. A recent paper describing an 86 per cent improvement rate in migraine headache involves giving GLA, 1,800 mg, combined with alpha-linolenic acid. But it also required an extremely high carbohydrate diet. More work is needed to learn how best to do the programme.

SUPPLEMENT SUGGESTIONS

For a good number of years, evening primrose oil was thought to be our sole source of GLA (this is why most of the medical research I’ve cited used the oils extracted from seeds of this wildflower). We now know that GLA also exists in two other plants, namely black currant seeds and borage seeds. I’d go so far as to say that no one’s usual diet includes healthy servings of any of three plants, which makes supplements mandatory.

Borage oil appears to be the most economical and practical choice. A single capsule usually contains at least four times the GLA of an evening primrose capsule, which generally contains only 45 mg of the omega-6 fatty acid. Borage capsules usually contain 240 mg of GLA. For a therapeutic effect, about 240 mg of GLA daily is the minimum requirement; as we’ve seen, though, some conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, need at least 1,400 mg per day in order to improve.

Though some have argued that GLA competes with omega- 3 oils and renders them less effective, in reality their effects are synergistic. I, as well as most other practitioners who endorse the essential fats, use both omega-3s and GLA, giving the body all the raw materials to make whatever eicosanoids it needs most. In most instances I prescribe six capsules a day of an essential oils formula that contains 400 mg each of borage oil, flax oil and a fish oil supplement rich in EPA. This translates into 576 mg of GLA, 720 mg of EPA and 480 mg of DHA, in addition to 1,080 of linoleic acid, 984 mg of alpha-linolenic acid and 912 mg of monounsaturated oil – which, not surprisingly, covers all the bases.

The differential effect on serum lipids (GLA has a cholesterol-lowering effect and EPA has a triglyceride-lowering effect) serves me as a guide for individualizing dosage. For those whose cholesterol is high and more than double the triglycerides (the usual ratio), I tend to give extra GLA; for those whose triglycerides are high and more than half the cholesterol number I may prescribe extra EPA.