FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Gold of pleasure (wild
flax) oil
1. What is Gold of pleasure
(Camelina Sativa)? Why is it called wild flax?
2. What are omega-3 fatty acids?
3. What happened with omega-3 fatty acids
in our food supply? What health benefits can be achieved through
omega-3 supplementation?
4 . What are the advantages and disadvantages
of different available sources of omega-3 fatty acids?
Gold of pleasure (wild
flax) oil
1. What is Gold of pleasure?
Why is it called wild flax?
Gold of pleasure (Camelina Sativa) - also
known as wild flax, German sesame, or Siberian oilseed – is an
ancient oleaginous (oil-bearing) plant from the Cruciferae
family, which has been domesticated and extensively used
in Europe for several thousand years. The seed
oil of Gold of pleasure contains an exceptional amount - up
to 45 per cent! - of omega-3 fatty acids,
as well as a unique antioxidant complex making the oil very stable
and resistant to heat and rancidity.
Known as “wild flax” because it is commonly found
growing together with common flax (and also sometimes referred
to as “false flax” due to its visual similarity with regular flax),
Gold of pleasure, while supplying almost as many omega-3 fatty
acids as regular flax, is much more stable than the latter, and
also tastes much better.
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2. What are omega-3 fatty
acids?
Omega-3 fatty acids are long-chain polyunsaturated
fatty acids (18-22 carbon atoms in chain length) with the first
of double bonds beginning with the third carbon atom. They are
called “polyunsaturated” because their molecules have two or more
of the so-called “double bonds” between carbon atoms. Their designation
as “long-chain” fatty acids has to do with the fact that they
consist of at least 18 carbon atoms.
The omega-3 family of fatty acids includes alpha-linolenic
acid (ALA, 18 carbon atoms, 3 double bonds), eicosapentaenoic
acid (EPA, 20 carbon atoms, 5 double bonds), and docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA, 22 carbon atoms, 6 double bonds). ALA is the “base”
omega-3 fatty acid, from which EPA and DHA are made in the body
through a series of enzymatic reactions
Some fatty acids, including alpha-liniolenic acid
(ALA) from the omega-3 family, are so important for health that
they have been termed “essential fatty acids”
(EFA). The essentiality of these fatty acids stems from the
fact that our bodies need them to perform vitally
important functions, but are unable to manufacture them. Therefore,
we must get them daily from outside sources (such as food or dietary
supplements). Otherwise, we risk developing an omega-3 fatty acid
deficiency and putting our health in danger of serious negative
consequences.
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3. What happened with
omega-3 fatty acids in our food supply? What health benefits can
be achieved through omega-3 supplementation?
Until recently, the human diet has provided adequate
amounts of omega-3s to satisfy our basic need for them. However,
the 20th century has witnessed an unprecedented shift from traditional,
natural foods supplying abundant quantities of omega-3 fatty acids
to processed, denatured packaged foods which are characterized
by an almost complete absence of omega-3s. In its tireless attempts
to extend the shelf life of its offerings, the food processing
industry has all but squeezed these important nutrients out of
our food supply altogether.
As a result, omega-3 deficiencies have reached health-threatening
proportions. Many researchers link these deficiencies to the current
epidemic of degenerative diseases, including heart disease, arthritis
and other inflammation-related diseases, and even cancer. Extensive
research, including many clinical studies, have confirmed that
regular supplementation of the diet with omega-3 fatty acids may
be helpful in preventing or reversing numerous debilitating health
problems. Here is a partial list of health benefits achievable
by supplementing one’s diet with omega-3 fatty acids:
- Reducing the overall level of inflammation in
the body, and the resulting healing or alleviation of many inflammation-related
conditions such as peptic ulcers, gastritis,cholecystitis (gall
bladder inflammation) and ulcerative colitis
- Lowering the risk of heart disease, including CHD (coronary
heart disease) and atherosclerosis
- Lowering the level of triglycerides (fats) in the blood
- Lowering high blood pressure (alleviating hypertension)
- Anti-clotting (thrombolytic) effect on the blood
- Reduction in heart irregularities, such as elevated heartbeat
rates and arrhythmias (disturbances of the normal rhythm in
the heart's beating)
- Alleviation of circulatory problems, including varicose veins
and Raynaud's disease
- Helping to alleviate mood disorders, such as depression
- Reducing aggression
- Helping patients with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), dyslexia and dyspraxia
- Helping to improve memory and learning skills, and prevent
Alzheimer's disease
- Prevention of allergies in children
- Improving the condition of those who suffer from inflammatory
skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema
- Alleviating rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and other inflammatory
forms of arthritis, affecting, in particular, persons with psoriasis
and gout
- Improving the immune status
- Alleviating certain symptoms of PMS
- Improving vision by lowering the risk of age-related macular
degeneration - an eye condition which is the leading cause of
severe loss of vision in people over 50.
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4. What are the pros and
cons of different available sources of omega-3 fatty acids?
There are two major known sources of omega-3 fatty
acids: certain types of fish (and their tissue or organ fat, also
called fish oil or fish liver oil), and a number of plant seeds
and their oils (flax oil being the best known one).
Fish and fish oils have an advantage of containing
the most nutritionally available variety of omega-3s, eicosapentaenoic
acid (EPA), which is converted directly into PGE3
– the compound responsible for most of the health benefits of
omega-3 supplementation. However, you must be very careful when
choosing fish or fish by-products as a source of omega-3s. First
of all, it should be kept in mind that only the fatty, cold water
fish varieties, such as salmon, sardines, and anchovies, are rich
in omega-3s, whereas most other fish species supply little or
no omega-3s. Even with salmon, you have to make sure that it is
wild and not farm-raised, because only the salmon caught in the
wild has any appreciable amounts of omega-3s, because it gets
them from its natural diet. Farm-raised salmon does not supply
any omega-3 fatty acids.
Fish oils additionally suffer from contamination
with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury. Modern industrial
agriculture produces a huge toxic runoff which goes into our rivers
and streams and eventually ends up in the ocean. At the same time,
coal-burning power plants are increasingly polluting our atmosphere
with mercury. These harmful chemicals tend to accumulate in fish.
The larger the fish – the more PCBs, mercury, and other toxins
(like lead and cadmium) will be found in its tissues. The problem
is so serious that the US government has recently issued a number
of warnings cautioning pregnant women and young children against
consuming certain species of fish because of contamination.
One more disadvantage of fish-derived omega-3 supplements
is that many people, including an ever-growing number of vegetarians,
are simply not able to use them, because they are excluding all
animal products and by-products from their diets altogether. For
them, the only viable alternative source of omega-3 fatty acids
has been flax oil.
While being the richest available plant source of
omega-3 fatty acids, flax oil has a serious downside. It has to
do with its susceptibility to oxidation and rancidity.
The oil is poor in natural antioxidants, and starts
going rancid as soon as it is pressed from the seeds. In spite
of many precautions taken by the flax oil industry, most commercially
available varieties of flax oil, both in liquid and in capsule
form, get rancid. And even if they don’t, there is no way to avoid
oxidation and rancidity once the oil enters your body. Once ingested,
it inevitably triggers free radical chain reactions, damaging
millions upon millions of healthy molecules. Your body tries to
stop these reactions with its own natural reserves of antioxidants,
such as vitamin E, putting these reserves under an unnecessary
and undesirable stress. As a result, the benefits of taking flax
oil may well be outweighed by the harm done by free radicals and
other toxic by-products of lipid oxidation.
Considering the above, one inevitably comes to a
conclusion that, until now, none of the widely available sources
of omega-3 fatty acids have been fully satisfactory and completely
problem-free. While it is possible to achieve the required level
of omega-3 supplementation using either fish and fish-derived
products, or flax oil, it would be highly desirable to have an
omega-3-rich oil that would also be more resistant to oxidation
and free of toxic contaminants. The good news is that such an
oil does, indeed, exist. This is the oil of Gold
of Pleasure (wild flax).
Gold of pleasure seeds produce a golden-colored
oil with a delicate, almond-like flavor, containing up to 45 per
cent of omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). In addition to valuable
omega-3s, it is uniquely rich in powerful antioxidants, primarily
tocopherols. At 110 mg/100 g, its vitamin E (tocopherol) content
is among the highest of all natural tocopherol sources. By contrast,
flax oil contains only trace amounts of vitamin E.
The fatty acid composition of Gold of pleasure oil
is also unique and very beneficial in terms of its health-promoting
qualities. In addition to being a rich source of ALA, the oil
is highly monounsaturated, naturally supplying more than 30 percent
of stable monounsaturated (oleic and gadoleic) fatty acids. This
significant proportion of monounsaturates (monounsaturated olive
oil forms the basis of the healthy Mediterranean diet) further
enhances the oxidative stability of Gold of pleasure oil, and
makes it a more versatile cooking oil.
The combination of these important advantages
makes Gold of pleasure oil the most balanced and desirable source
of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. While providing almost
as many omega-3s as flax oil, it is highly stable and abundant
in vitamin E and other natural antioxidants, as well as beneficial
monounsaturated fatty acids. As a result, it does not promote
the formation of harmful free radicals. On the contrary, it helps
resist their destructive effects by providing powerful antioxidant
protection.
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