Consume More Essential Fatty Acids and Reduce the Risk of Pneumonia

by | Jul 24, 2008 | 2005, Fats and Oils - General, Immune Health

Written by Susan Sweeny Johnson, Ph.D., Biochem. Increasing consumption of essential fatty acids can lead to many health benefits.

Poylunsaturated fats are thought to be involved in controlling inflammation and immune response.(1,2,3,4) Ninety-five percent of dietary polyunsaturates are made up of the essential fatty acids linoleic and a-linolenic acid. The main dietary sources of a-linolenic and linoleic acids are canola and soybean oils, nuts, oil-based salad dressings and fish.

In a 14 year study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,6 38,000 US male health professionals 44-79 years old were evaluated to see if there was a correlation between their intake of the linoleic and a-linolenic acids and pneumonia contracted from the community in which they lived. Increasing consumption of essential fatty acids led to a clear health benefit.

Four hundred and forty-one new cases of community-acquired pneumonia were reported in this group between 1990 and 2000. The risk of contracting pneumonia went gradually down up to 32% from a baseline of lowest intake of fatty acids [0.71 grams per day (grams per day a-linolenic acid and 7.64 grams per day linoleic acid] to the highest consumption [1.53 grams per day a-linolenic and 15.75 grams per day linoleic acid]. Various risk factors such as smoking, body mass, alcohol use and physical activity were taken into account. Study participants with heart disease, cancer or asthma were excluded.

Other studies have shown that intake of these essential fatty acids reduces the risk of infection and boosts immune response.  A small study of preschool age children showed intake of these fatty acids reduced incidence of fever and infection. (3) In another study, people in respiratory distress had less need for ventilators and had shorter hospitalizations when supplemented with these fatty acids. (5)

Source: Merchant, Anwar T., et al. “Intake of n− 6 and n− 3 fatty acids and fish and risk of community-acquired pneumonia in US men.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 82.3 (2005): 668-674.

© 2005 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Posted July 24, 2008.

References:

  1. Calder PC, Grimble RF. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, inflammation and immunity.  Eur J Clin Nutr 2002;56(suppl): 14-9.
  2. Simopoulos AP, Omega-3 Fatty acids in inflammation and autoimmune diseases. J Am Coll Nutr 2002; 21:495-505.
  3. Venuta A. Spano C. Laudizi L. Bettelli F. Beverelli A. Turchetto E. Essential fatty acids: the effects of dietary supplementation among children with recurrent respiratory infections. J Int Med Res 1996; 24:325-30.
  4. Kew S. Banerjee T. Minihane AM. Finnegan YE. Williams CM. Calder PC. Relation between the fatty acid composition of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and measures of immune cell function in healthy, free-living subjects aged 25-72 years. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;77:1278-86.
  5. Bladek JE. DeMichele SJ. Karlstad MD. et al. Effect of enteral feeding with eicosapentanoic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and antioxidants in patients with acute repiratory distress syndrome. Enteral Nutrition in ARS Study Group. Crit Care Med 1999; 27: 1409-20.
  6. Merchant et al. Intake of n-6 and n-3 fatty acids and fish and risk of community-acquired pneumonia in US men. Am J Clin Nutr  2005; 82: 668-674.