Symmetry Products with Borage Seed:
Advanced Omega, NutraPack, Ultra Vitality
With our fat phobia and the resultant
barrage of low-fat and non-fat food products lining the grocery
store aisles, a recommendation to supplement your daily diet with
one to two tablespoons of essential fatty acids, rich flax or borage
seed oil would appear to go against what you are being told. To
the contrary, this is exactly what health conscious consumers are
doing across the country, not only to attain and maintain optimal
health, but in many instances, as a treatment for the over-60 health
ailments the essential fatty acids have been scientifically
validated to benefit.
While it is true that Americans should not consume more than 20-30%
of daily calories as fats, a lack of the dietary essential fatty
acids has been suggested to facilitate degenerative disease. Surveys
indicate that at least 80% of our population is deficient in
essential fatty acids, which may present a serious health threat.
Unfortunately, mass commercial refinement of fats and oils products
and foods containing them has effectively eliminated the essential
fatty acids from our food chain, contributing to our modern day
deficiency.
Nature's most potent concentration of GLA comes in the form of
borage seed oil (24%). A great deal of scientific research has been
conducted with supplements rich in GLA, resulting in significant
interest regarding the aforementioned health ailments, as well as
those affected by pre-menstrual syndrome, benign breast disease,
eczema, psoriasis, obesity, and vascular disorders.
The essential fatty acids combined here have proven to impart a
regulatory function on the body's fatty acid metabolism. Fat
metabolism is as important, if not more critical, than our body's
metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates as evidenced by the drastic
rise in fat related degenerative diseases, such as vascular disease
and strokes. Dietary essential fatty acids common to borage seed oil
are ultimately converted to hormone-like substances known as prostaglandins,
and are important for the regulation of a host of bodily functions
including inflammation, swelling, & pain; pressure in the eye,
joints or blood vessels; secretions from mucus membranes and their
viscosity; smooth muscle and autonomic reflexes; gastrointestinal;
arterial; ear; heart; water retention; blood clotting ability;
allergic response; rheumatoid arthritis; nerve transmission; steroid
production and hormone synthesis.
Scientists continue to discover regulating effects of prostaglandins.
Without the essential fatty acids, the building blocks of
prostaglandins, a malfunction of fat metabolism is certain, as are
problems in the regulation of the bodily functions listed above.
For some individuals, flax seed oil may offer only half of the
solution. Those deficient in co-factor nutrients, specifically the
vitamins pro-A, A, C, E, B2, B6, pantothenic acid, B12, biotin, and
the minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, and zinc,
sometimes have difficulty in converting the omega-6 fatty acid,
linoleic acid, found in borage and other seed oils to the healthful
prostaglandins.
Still others are thought to lack the necessary enzyme (catalyst) to
make this conversion, particularly the aged or those afflicted with
diabetes, asthma, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, alcoholism.
For those suffering from co-factor deficiencies, a broad spectrum
multi-vitamin and mineral may be recommended with, perhaps, an oil
supplement rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Individuals who may
lack the proper enzyme system would require a GLA supplement in
addition to the flax seed oil. Nature's most potent concentration of
GLA comes in the form of borage seed oil (24%).
When considering an essential fatty acid supplement and deciding on
either flax or borage seed oils, the most sensible solution may be a
formulation of the two. The combination of both flax and borage seed
oil yields a true Omega-Twin by providing nature's best of the
omega-3 fatty acids in flax with the best of omega-6 fatty acids in
GLA rich borage oil.
Supplementation with flax seed &
borage seed oils makes good sense for the following reasons:
- Omega-3 fatty acids and GLA work together on
the production of beneficial prostaglandins
- Over 60 health problems have proven to benefit
from both flax seed and borage seed supplements.
- Flax seed oil and borage seed oil work together
for even better results.
- A combination of flax seed and borage seed oils
is less expensive than these oils purchased separately.
The
answer appears not to be 'no fat', but the right fat, as common to
flax and borage seed oils, in achieving optimal health.
Past and present scientific research supports the use of essential
fatty acid nutrients in promoting optimal health. Borage seed oil is
recognized as nature's richest source of GLA. These natural plant
substances used alone have created a great deal of interest in the
treatment of numerous health problems. Evidence suggests the
combination of omega-3 fatty acids with gamma-linolenic acid (GLA)
may further complement the therapeutic result of either fatty acid
used singularly.
Other
Borage Seed Information:
Scientists at the University of
Pennsylvania have reported that high doses of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA)
were highly effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis. An earlier
study by the same group showed that administration of 1,100 mg. of
GLA per day from borage seed oil reduced synovitis in six of seven
patients with rheumatoid arthritis. GLA is rapidly converted to
dihomogamma-linolenic acid, the immediate precursor of prostaglandin
E1 which is a potent anti-inflammatory agent. Nature's most potent
concentration (24%) of GLA comes in the form of borage seed oil.
Other benefits of Borage Seed GLA include:
- Vasodilation of blood vessels, which can reduce
high blood pressure.
- Reduction of abnormal blood clotting, which can
reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
- Enhanced regulation of immune response,
specifically, a reduction in autoimmune dysfunction, the
underlying cause of rheumatoid arthritis
- Elimination of common skin disorders such as
eczema
- Slowing of some aspects of normal aging.
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