SAN DIEGO (PRWEB)
February 28, 2022
A landmark paper in Nature’s Scientific Reports, led by Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson found that a healthy saturated fat, C15:0, meets the rare criteria of an essential fatty acid, which has rapidly gained global support from the scientific and nutrition communities. This discovery is challenging current nutritional guidelines that recommend decreasing intake of all saturated fats to support heart health.
C15:0 (also called pentadecanoic acid) is an odd-chain saturated fatty acid present in trace levels in whole-fat dairy products, as well as some types of fish and plants. With their discovery, Stephanie, a veterinary epidemiologist formerly with the CDC and WHO, co-founded Seraphina Therapeutics with Eric, her husband, a Navy Veteran and physician. Together, they created a pure, sustainable, and vegan-friendly C15:0 ingredient and are leading a movement to help restore global health by addressing nutritional C15:0 deficiencies.
In support of this movement, two meta analyses were published during 2020 and 2021 that included dozens of large-scale prospective cohort studies on C15:0. These studies showed that people with higher circulating C15:0 concentrations had a lower risk of developing heart disease, as well as a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Other peer-reviewed studies from 2021 linked higher C15:0 to a lower risk of heart failure and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, an emerging liver disease that affects 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 10 children globally. Several studies have also shown that people with higher circulating C15:0 concentrations live longer.
Prior to this discovery, there were only two known essential fatty acids: alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3, and linoleic acid, an omega-6. The growing number of peer-reviewed scientific papers linking C15:0 to better health further supports this healthy saturated fat as the first essential fatty acid to be discovered in 90 years.
Meanwhile, declining population-wide C15:0 levels are coinciding with dietary trends away from whole fat dairy products and toward plant-based and vegan products. “Evidence is mounting that C15:0 nutritional deficiencies may be contributing to the rise in heart disease, especially among younger people,” said Dr. Eric Venn-Watson. “With these latest studies linking C15:0 to a lower risk of developing heart disease, the need to reevaluate current nutritional guidelines around all saturated fats is becoming increasingly important.”
About Seraphina Therapeutics
Seraphina Therapeutics, Inc. is a health and wellness company dedicated to advancing global health through the discovery of essential fatty acids and micronutrient therapeutics. Through rigorous breakthrough science, the company develops fatty acid supplements, food fortifiers and nutritional interventions to strengthen cells, keep mitochondria working and advance cellular homeostasis to counter age-related breakdown. With its team of industry-leading scientists, Seraphina Therapeutics challenges long held approaches to nutrition, enabling the creation of novel health products designed to support our quality of life.
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