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It's a precursor of prostaglandin E1, very active biologically regulating such functions as the vessel and immune systems.
The omega fatty acids prove to be very beneficial to health. A common misconception is that all omega fatty acids are found lacking in peoples diets but in fact it is usually the omega-3 fatty acids found in flax seed and most fish. Studies have shown that the average person consumes up to 10 times their required daily intake of omega-6 fatty acids.
GLA is usually found in evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil, and borage oil. Each contain varying amounts of the fatty acid with borage oil usually being the most heavily concentrated form. All three oils can be found on the shelves in most drugstores.
From all the other sources of GLA, that in evening primrose oil appears to be the most biologically active. This seems to be because most of the GLA is in the form of Enotherol , a particular triglycerideTriglycerides or triacylglycerols are natural fats and oils, composed of glycerin (chemically, "glycerol") and fatty acid chains. Chemical structure The fatty acids are linked to the glycerol so as to form 3 ester functional groups: : CH COOR CH COOR' CH consisting of two molecules of LALA La or la may stand for: la the feminine form of the in French, Spanish, Italian, and other languages lanthanum La , the symbol for the chemical element Laos ( ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code) Latin language ( ISO 639 alpha-2) Los Angeles, California Lo and one of GLA on a glycerol backbone. It has been suggested that in Enotherol, GLA is in its most readily metabolisable form
Basically, the body takes the GLA and turns it into another form, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA), which is critical in producing prostaglandin. Prostaglandin itself is vital to basic cellA cell is a single unit or compartment, enclosed by a border or wall. Examples of cells: prison cell monastic cell cell in biology electrochemical cell radio cell, as used in cellular mobile and cell phone table cell, as used in HTML / web pages Geometric structure and function, among other things.
Theories saying that most people lack GLA are often incorrect. GLA is produced by the body naturally from linoleic acidLinoleic acid (CHO) is a colourless liquid. The word linoleic comes from the Greek word linon ( flax). Oleic means of, relating to, or derived from oil or of or relating to oleic acid''. Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid used in the biosynthes (LA). Not to be confused with linolenic acidLinolenic acid is an 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid with three double bonds. The isomer called alpha-linolenic acid, an Omega-3 fatty acid, is essential for all mammals. A particularly rich food source is flaxseed. Alpha-linolenic acid has been asso which is the omega-3 fatty acidOmega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids found in certain fish tissues, and in vegetable sources such as flax seeds, walnuts, and canola oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are classed as essential fatty acids. These fatty acids were originally designated found in flax seed. The LA is consumed from cooking oils and meats, all of which have it in abundance. The lack in GLA can come when people grow older and their body becomes unable to properly produce sufficient quantity of it.
GLA can also be found in another form where it is successfully bonded with polar lithium salt so it has the ability of disolving well in water. The resulting compound is Li-GLA which is called Lithium gamma-linolenic acid or lithium gammalinolenate. Li-GLA is very commonly used intravenously to fight HIV since it has the ability to destroy HIV infected T cells in the human body.