LINOLEIC ACID IS CARCINOGENIC

by Stanford Field
January 2003

A SHOCKING REPORT FROM JAPAN IS RECEIVED WITHOUT A MURMUR IN THE WESTERN WORLD

In 1997, a report was published by Harumi Okuyama, et ai, in "Progress in Lipid Research," Vol. 35, No.4, pp. 409-457 that presented overwhelming evidence that linoleic acid (predominantly in vegetable oils) was not only carcinogenic, but also a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and for allergic hyper-reactivity.

How could such valuable information be ignored? Why haven't we heard even a whisper about it? The answer, I believe, lies in the catastrophic implications for the food processing-pharmaceutical-medical- political industries. We have been fed misinformation that ignores alternative theories. For example, the cholesterol theory of heart disease propagated the use of highly profitable cholesterol-lowering drugs and vegetable oils. Heavy investments were made by the pharmaceutical and food processing industries. It's not surprising that the homocysteine theory (first proposed by Kilmer McCully, MD in 1969) was not allowed to see the light of day. To acknowledge the homocysteine theory would have slowed the rush to drugs and vegetable oils. The homocysteine theory predicted that heart disease was mainly an imbalance of diet (methionine intake) and nutrients to detoxify homocysteine - that required no drugs or vegetable oils.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), originally conceived to protect the public, is now corrupted with pharmaceutical money and the promise of high-paying jobs within the pharmaceutical giants. Did you know that 60-75 percent of FDA employees take jobs in pharmaceutical companies when they retire from government? Did you know that FDA officials own stock in the drug companies they are assigned to regulate? Outrageous! And now we are in so deep, that officials, upon whom we depend to guide our health, cannot tell the truth. Anyone on the inside who attempts to blow the whistle, immediately becomes history. Deception-for-money, without regard for health, has become the way of life. So, don't expect to hear about the carcinogenicity of vegetable oils.

I am certain that free-thinking people throughout the world appreciate the availability of the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, which is one of the few literary vehicles that is independent of the food processing-pharmaceutical-medical-political complex.

VEGETABLE OILS: A DISASTER IN AMERICA PROVIDES EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE UNCOVERED BY JAPANESE RESEARCH

After World War II, grain production in the United States rose rapidly because of greatly increased farm productivity brought about by mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides. Within a relatively short time, grain production exceeded demand in the United States. Oils were removed from the excess grains, and the residual mash was fed to cattle. Since cattle were fed grains to fatten them quickly (they normally eat grass), their fats were high in linoleic acid.

The intake of cattle meat and vegetable oils rose dramatically as hamburger shops and grocery store oils proliferated. Nutritionists and healthcare professionals encouraged the public to eat vegetable oils because they contained essential fatty acids - especially linoleic acid.

The growth of railroads and the development of refrigerated railroad cars allowed beef to be shipped to every part of the nation. You could now get a hamburger (80% fat and very high in calories), french fries (boiled in toxic peroxidized oil that is soaked into the potatoes) and a soft drink whenever you felt the slightest bit of hunger. The soft drink contained phosphoric acid (to dissolve the carbon dioxide) that required calcium from the bones to neutralize it. The soft drink also was also extremely high in sugar (about 30-40 grams or 8-10 teaspoons - the blood normally contains about 5 grams of glucose) which caused insulin levels to soar. High insulin promotes the conversion of linoleic acid to excess arachidonic acid. Excess arachidonic acid in cell membranes causes a response to any injury with excessive inflammation and excessive cell damage. The "arachidonic acid cascade" mediates all inflammatory damage including that associated with heart diseases, Alzheimer's disease and all cancers. Thus, linoleic acid and insulin surges are combined to devastate the body.

Returning to the story, vegetable oils sold in grocery stores were treated with hydrogen (partially hydrogenated) to reduce rancidity and gum formation to increase shelf life. The oils were crystal-clear and stayed that way. Later, it was found that the plastic bottles oozed estrogen mimics and hormone - disrupting chemicals that are a leading cause of prostate cancer and breast cancer. These estrogen mimics playa significant role in the epidemic of infertility and premenstrual syndrome among young women.

Polycarbonate resins contain bisphenol-A which has potent estrogenic effects. Polycarbonate resins are made into clear hard plastic water and vegetable oil bottles that have become ubiquitous. Furthermore, polycarbonate resins are used as the inner linings in canned goods and soft drinks. As little as 2 parts per billion of bisphenol-A (1/1000th of the FDA safety limit) cause an estrogenic response in cells.

Full hydrogenation of vegetable oils produced solid saturated fats that were canned (such as "Crisco"). Intermediate hydrogenation produced a semi-solid fat that was called "margarine" that could be used as a butter substitute. The vegetable oil industry did an excellent job of chemical engineering, but whose responsibility was it to test the physiological effects of these altered oils?

Within a few decades, heart attacks and other heart diseases became epidemic. Medical research identified saturated fats and cholesterol in foods as the main nutritional factors causing heart disease. Polyunsaturated oils were found to lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol in heart-problem patients. The polyunsaturated vegetable oils were led by safflower oil which had the highest concentration of polyunsaturates (80% linoleic acid). It was rapidly swept off grocery store shelves and fed into the mouths of everyone in America!

Thereafter, margarine was endorsed by the American Heart Association as a heart-healthy substitute for butter. Margarine contained partially hydrogenated fat called "trans-fatty acids" which were later found to be insidiously unhealthy. About 80 percent of the margarine in the United States is made from refined soybean oil which contains about 52 percent linoleic acid. Perhaps, the linoleic acid aspect of things should be considered in the "great soy debate." Trans-fats are linked to the following effects: tumor growth and metastasis, inhibition of many key enzyme reactions, low birth weight in infants, decreased testosterone in men, prostate enlargment, heart disease, increased LDL cholesterol, lowered HDL cholesterol, obesity, suppression of immune system, interference with glucose transport into cells, and excess-glutamate induced neuronal death. Trans-fats are found in bread, cake, candies, canned soup, cereals, cookies, crackers, doughnuts, cheese, grocery store oils and margarine.

Medical researchers, doctors and nutritionists were completely unaware of the unintended detrimental health consequences of a diet high in omega-6 oils (most vegetable oils) and trans-fatty acids. Today, when even I know about them, very little is officially said to warn the public.

As the cancer rate rose and the heart disease rate declined and no greater net survival rate was attained, it became transparent that heart disease was being traded for cancer. Why? We now know, based on the Japanese research, that the main component of the "heart-healthy" vegetable oils (linoleic acid) is carcinogenic.

A DISASTER IN JAPAN LEADS TO THE DISCOVERY THAT LINOLEIC ACID IS CARCINOGENIC

Since the 1950s, Japan has experienced rapidly rising mortality from cancers (lung, colorectum, breast, uterus, prostate, pancreas, esophagus and skin) that were previously of relatively minor importance. Furthermore, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and allergic hyper-reactivity disease are also rising rapidly. Through extensive and detailed research, the main cause for all these diseases is attributed to the relatively rapid switch to the use of vegetable oils instead of the traditional use of fish oils as a result of a catastrophic disregard for the sanctity of the nearby ocean environment - the source of sea life used as food.

In the 1950s, a chemical plant in Minamata, Japan continuously discharged large amounts of waste mercury compounds into Minamata Bay. The passage of mercury through the aquatic food chain led to human deaths following the consumption of fish that lived in the bay. Infants were born with severe mental retardation and the absence of limbs. The concentration of mercury in those fish reached levels as high as 36 parts per million (ppm). By way of comparison, the average mercury content of water-packed canned tuna in the United States in 1990 was 0.2 ppm (as methyl mercury). Any amount of mercury is considered to be dangerous because it can be accumulated to reach toxic levels. How does mercury get into fish around the world?

Mercury is released into the atmosphere by the following:

burning of coal - mostly to generate electricity (coal accounts for 29 percent of all energy used in the world in 2000)
the incineration of all kinds of wastes, including land dumps
metal smelters
volcanic eruptions

The mercury vapor is carried around the globe by air currents, and it eventually settles out of the atmosphere and falls on the land (30%) and in the oceans (70%). The World Health Organization estimates that about 10,000 tons of mercury are released worldwide each year from all sources. That is a huge amount of mercury being deposited n the environment, year after year.

The ultimate sink for the mercury is the sediments of oceans and lakes. There, micro- organisms convert the inorganic mercury to methyl mercury (the form that is most toxic to humans). That mercury is concentrated in the largest fish in the aquatic food chain (sharks, swordfish and tuna). Mercury is especially toxic to fetuses, so women in their reproduction years must not accumulate mercury in their bodies to avoid passing it on to their babies.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG and many disguised names) is in a great deal of the food that is on the market. Excess glutamate in neurons is an excitotoxin which causes neuron death. The body tries to detoxify the glutamate by conversion to glutamine. That conversion is inhibited by mercury. and is strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease. The blood serum of early-onset Alzheimer's patients contains three times as much mercury (330 mcg/l) compared to controls (110 mcg/l). Mercury is highly toxic to the brain.

Also, the body uses calcium to activate neurons in response to glutamate. The detoxication of a neuron requires that the calcium be pumped out of the neuron. That removal of calcium is inhibited by trans-fatty acids. The excessive calcium accumulation in the neuron causes neuron death, and it is also associated with Alzheimer's disease.

FDA data showing the mercury content of fish (in parts per million), is as follows:

swordfish 1.00	lobster 0.31
shark 0.96	halibut 0.23
mackerel 0.73	tuna (canned) 0.17
tuna steak 0.32	scallops 0.05

Mercury was not detected in salmon (do not eat farmed salmon - they are fed linoleic acid-containing fatty acids and trans-fatty acids), flounder, sole, herring, whitefish, mahi mahi, and cod.

Returning to the story in Japan, well-publicized concerns about contamination of sea foods with mercury-containing compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have caused a sharp increase in the use of vegetable oils. The subsequent steadily rising cancer and stroke rates provided the incentive for animal research and epidemiological studies in an attempt to uncover the causes. That research culminated in the 1997 report by Harumi Okuyama, et al that contained electrifying evidence that linoleic acid and its metabolite, arachidonic acid were prominent causes of a variety of cancers, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and allergic hyper-reactivity in Japan with implications for America and the rest of the industrialized world.

THE FATTY ACID CONTENT OF VARIOUS COMMON OILS

This report concludes with a table showing the linoleic acid content of various common oils (area under "linoleic acid"). My oil use is limited to one tablespoon of cod liver oil (Norwegian is relatively pure - the label indicates "no detectable" [whatever that means] mercury or PCBs) and liberal use of extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and medium chain triglycerides.

Composition of fatty acid (wt%)

	Saturated Fatty Acid	Mono- saturated Fatty Acid	Linoleic Acid	Gamma Linoleic Acid	Alpha Linoleic Acid	Eicosa pentaenoic Acid	Docosa- hexaenoic Acid
	SAT	OA	LA	GLA	LNA	EPA	DHA
	16-18:0	16:20:1 omega 9	18: 2 omega 6	18:3 omega 6	18:3 omega 3	30:5 omega 3	22:6 omega3
OILS
Canola	9	54	30	0	7	0	0
Coconut	91	6	3	0	0	0	0
Cod Liver	53	23	2	0	1	10	11
Corn	17	24	59	0	0	0	0
Cottonseed	26	22	52	0	0	0	0
Fish anchovie + sardine	30	30	10	0	2	17	11
Flax Seed	10	16	16	0	58	0	0
Hemp Seed	8	12	60	0	20	0	0
Macadamia	17	73	10	0	0	0	0
Olive	16	76	8	0	0	0	0
Peanut	20	50	29	0	1	0	0
Pumpkin seed	9	34	49	0	8	0	0
Rice Bran	16	48	35	0	1	0	0
Safflower	10	10	80	0	0	0	0
Salmon	50	12	65	0	0	18	12
Sunflower	12	23	65	0	0	0	0
Soybean	15	26	52	0	7	0	0
Walnut	17	28	50	0	5	0	0
Wheat Germ	18	25	52	0	5	0	0
Special GLA Oils
Black Currant	14	9	47	17	13	0	0
Borage	25	16	35	24	0	0	0
Evening Promrose	8	9	74	9	0	0	0
ANIMAL FATS
Beef Fat	76	19	4	0	1	0	0
Butter	78	19	2	0	1	0	0
Chicken Fat	66	16	17	0	1	0	0
Lard	71	18	10	0	1	0	0

TOO LATE SCHMART is written by Stanford Field (BS chemical engineering, 1951) who has been avidly studying biochemistry and physiology, since 1993, with an aim of staying healthy despite the ever-increasing odds of age-related decline. This publication is written to the best of his ability, and it is intended to document any findings that may be useful to interested readers. The publication has neither profit nor political motives.