ApoE4.Info

I’ve read it three times and probably will again…headspinning. Here’s another paper pointing to perturbed fatty acid metabolism in E4 carriers. By asking the right questions and pointing out problems with past research; the authors are zeroing in on our biggest dietary dilemma.

As you read, bear in mind that β-oxidation is NOT the same as lipid peroxidation. β-oxidation (beta-oxidation) is the catabolic process in which fatty acids are used by the body as a source of energy. Lipid peroxidation refers to the oxidative degradation of lipids. There are some very interesting dietary implications for our population…but really way more questions than answers. I’d love to hear your comments.

Fatty Acid Metabolism in Carriers of Apolipoprotein E Epsilon 4 Allele: Is It Contributing to Higher Risk of Cognitive Decline and Coronary Heart Disease?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4210928/

1. In this paper, we highlighted that people carrying at least one allele of APOE4 seems to have a deregulated fatty acid metabolism with emphasis on disrupted DHA homeostasis. To date, it is not clear how this could play a role in the risk of developing LOAD and/or CHD but it could involve the following processes.

2. Shift in fatty acid selection for β-oxidation where DHA becomes highly β-oxidized in APOE4 carriers whereas in the non-carriers, DHA is highly conserved. In APOE4 carriers, brain uptake of DHA seems lower resulting in lower brain membrane DHA over time. This could play a role in neurotransmission and expression of genes and proteins involved in brain health but this needs further investigation.

3. APOE4 carriers respond differently than non-carriers to dietary interventions involving lipids such that modulating lipoprotein levels may include managing fatty acid circulating in the blood. Providing higher doses of LC omega-3 to this population could be necessary to obtain a similar response compared to the non-carriers supplemented with lower doses of LC omega-3.

Julie, you are ahead of the pack yet again
We need to get our heads around fatty acid metabolism and keep it separate from cholesterol metabolism - it is easily confused in the lay press.
Reading it now: omg its hard.
I'm first reading through and so far understand that there is a homeostasis - ie DHA (a fatty acid, specifically an omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ) can be burnt (catabolised) for fuel (beta oxidation ) or incorporated into cell structures? Am I right? And our balance here is disturbed in that we tend to burn too much of our DHA thus we need extra more than non apoe4 people need?
So far my take home message is for us to have higher doses of DHA so there is enough left over for our brain cells.

Ps: for our new members: catabolism means breaking down and anabolism means building up. Hence "anabolic steroids" build muscle.
Also beta oxidation happens when the fatty acids enter the mitochondria and generate fuel in the form of a molecule called ATP. This is good for us e4s but we need our omega 3 fatty acids (the most important one is DHA) for structural means and other good things in our brains , its a waste to burn them up.

quick read tells me why now that high doses of fish oil cause oxidation in E4.

Gene we need to be specific about what kind of oxidation we are talking about here.
Beta oxidation as Julie said is not the same as oxidative degredation.

I look forward to hearing an action plan based on this. My breakfast is usually sardines with pickled ginger and I take a teaspoon of cod liver oil with a couple thousand IUs of D dropped in it, but wondering if I should change that. Cod liver oil built bigger brains for babies in this 2003 study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12509593 so I figured it should help for old ladies too.

Kathleen1 wrote:I look forward to hearing an action plan based on this. My breakfast is usually sardines with pickled ginger and I take a teaspoon of cod liver oil with a couple thousand IUs of D dropped in it, but wondering if I should change that. Cod liver oil built bigger brains for babies in this 2003 study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12509593 so I figured it should help for old ladies too.

I personally have been following Isaacsons protocol and aim for 1gram omega 3s s day either totally from fish or I top up with Ovega.

Stavia wrote:Gene we need to be specific about what kind of oxidation we are talking about here.
Beta oxidation as Julie said is not the same as oxidative degredation.

it is the toxic byproducts, we are not using clean burning fuel and never have and our detox channels are not clean shoots either.

In the for what it is worth category, I first discovered my 4 gene in June of last year. I was cooking LC vegan for my now wife. Don't have good notes from then, but remember thinking it was was pretty "lean." As in very CR. It was pretty low in everything. Except I added in a lot of fish oil. My LDL-P was off the charts high at 2023 and small LDL-P 741, HDL-P 30.9, LDL-size 21.2, Tg 143, LDL-C 125, TC 195, HDL-C 41. This compares to my most recent "Gundry" Matrix diet with E4 mods (no dairy, or meat fat only omega 3 eggs & shellfish) with LDL-P 1292, small LDL-P < 90, HDL-P 31.2, LDL-size 31.1, TC 209, LDL-C 139, HDL-C 56, Tg 72. The only bad "actor" for the first test was the couple or more tablespoons of fish oil/day (vs 2 g/day on the second test).

George, what exactly was your "fish oil"? ie exactly how much of everything was in those two tablespoons?

GeorgeN said

In the for what it is worth category, I first discovered my 4 gene in June of last year. I was cooking LC vegan for my now wife. Don't have good notes from then, but remember thinking it was was pretty "lean." As in very CR. It was pretty low in everything. Except I added in a lot of fish oil. My LDL-P was off the charts high at 2023 and small LDL-P 741, HDL-P 30.9, LDL-size 21.2, Tg 143, LDL-C 125, TC 195, HDL-C 41. This compares to my most recent "Gundry" Matrix diet with E4 mods (no dairy, or meat fat only omega 3 eggs & shellfish) with LDL-P 1292, small LDL-P < 90, HDL-P 31.2, LDL-size 31.1, TC 209, LDL-C 139, HDL-C 56, Tg 72. The only bad "actor" for the first test was the couple or more tablespoons of fish oil/day (vs 2 g/day on the second test).

GeorgeN - How much of the change do you attribute to niacin you have been taking recently?

What do you think of Dr. Dayspring's warnings against niacin?