Richard Cotter

Dietary supplementation of undernourished rats with soy or safflower oil: Effects on myelin polyunsaturated fatty acids

Undernourished suckling rats were administered, by gastric intubation, either soy oil (which is rich in both linoleic and linolenic acids) or safflower oil (which is rich in linoleic acid but deficient in linolenic acid) to determine (1) if dietary supplementation would offset the hypomyelination characteristic of the undernourished, developing brain and (2) to compare myelin fatty acids in normal, undernourished, and oil-supplemented rats. Myelin recovery was not increased by supplementation with either oil. The proportions of C22∶4 and C22∶6 fatty acids were reduced in myelin of the undernourished rats. Undernourished rats supplemented with either soy or safflower oil had higher than normal proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (C20∶4 and C22∶6). The triene-tetraene ratio in the oil-supplemented rats was lower than in normal controls, indicating that the oil-supplemented rats were not deficient in essential fatty acids. No significant differences were observed between the oil-supplemented groups.

Nutrition, Fluid Balance, and Physical Performance

Nutrition, including fluid balance and its effects on physical performance, is not a new concept created in response to the evolution of professional athletics in the twentieth century. Present-day media coverage of this field might lead one to believe that the relationship between nutrition and physical performance is a recent discovery of professional coaching staffs. In truth, professional sports has recently helped expand our knowledge in this area, but our basic knowledge in this field goes back to antiquity and is shrouded in early mythical and religious beliefs. This was followed by the study of nutrition and physical performance under conditions related to some of man’s great endeavors—war and industry. In a more recent stage of development, amateur athletics created the proper controlled environment for the study of nutrition and performance during physical activities of varying intensities and comparison of these results to those collected in military and industrial settings. These combined data bases form the foundation for our present understanding of this challenging field, thus allowing us to develop the present nutritional and fluid regimens used by coaches and participants in amateur, collegiate, and professional sports today.