I got the following message recently, out of the blue:
Astounded by [your] advice, Ω-3 up - Ω-6 down= no sunburn during +3hr LSD [Long, Slow Distance run]!
This was, I presume, in response to a few tweets on this topic, which I had been discussing with a few other people.
Tucker Goodrich: yelling Stop is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
My correspondent wishes to remain anonymous, for reasons you'll see below, but I was curious to see what his experience actually was, and why he decided to look into this. He agreed to let me post the exchange we had.
[Edited for readability; PUFA = PolyUnsaturated Fatty Acids; Ω-6 = omega-6 fats from seed oils, Ω-3 = omega-3 fats from fish or certain seeds.]
I do have a question for you though, what did you do to cut back on omega-6, and how long did it take for you to notice a difference?
Thanks for this!! Well I started to look and consume less n-6 after reading your posts!!
I used to get some serious sunburn on my long runs. So upped n-3 and consumed less n-6... It's actually pretty amazing to run without a shirt, for three-plus hours and have NO sunburn at all!!! That's why I enjoy your posts!
I think Noakes here in South Africa has done a great job, but you are one of the few that emphasize PUFA/n-6 as an issue...I see many people here in SA do Banting, but use copious amounts of sunflower oil...Noakes should address this...
My old man similarly was on Noakes banting diet, but they were extremely high on n-6, so I showed them your tweets... They are doing stellar now... With my dad as with me it took as long as 6 months to see a difference, but I should add that we lowered n-6 and also upped n-3, with krill oil.
Your tweets have resulted in our entire town cutting back on PUFA's. In fact, I told some guys about your tweets and I said that I would rather be high carb and low PUFA/n-6 than low carb and high PUFA/n-6.
Thanks so much for the reply! You should come visit and run Comrades here some time!!
Reports like this are what makes doing this work worthwhile. Thanks for letting me know!
I'll see if I can pass this along to Professor Noakes, as I'm sure he'd be fascinated to hear this report as well.
Tucker Goodrich: yelling Stop is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is something I noticed way back by now...we're talking 2010-ish after a couple of years "Paleo-ish" as it was thought of at the time, generally real food, low to moderate carbs.
I never linked it to n-6, just better diet overall (which of course would subsume lower n-6).
I was never a huge sunburn guy and usually, after I got a bad one early in the season, it seemed to be protective for future ones.
Anyway, it's been 15 years now without a serious burn. I'm very tanned right now (I live in Thailand, so tan in year-round), I try to hit the pool most bright sunny days at high noon. I never bake in the sun. I do stuff. Move around.
The big test was back in 2020, I spent a few months in rural Thailand building a house where it was outside many hours per day, no shirt ever (shorts only), and never caught a burn, not even tops of shoulders which are the most intensely exposed.
... Oh, another thing is my eye's sensitivity to sunlight. Way less. Before, I could not exist without my sunglasses, ever (took them up in earnest as a teen). Now, I wear them for style as much as anything. If I forget them it's no big. I can function fine without.
I took as much omega 6 out my diet as possible but didn’t focus on adding in omega 3. Took about 18 months for me to properly notice that I didn’t burn anymore. I’m naturally “Scottish blue” in colour! I realised I hadn’t burned as a child in the 70s and 80s but then had burned most of my adult life when I had to start cooking for myself when the prevailing wisdom was for low fat/vegetable oil diets. It seems mum did know best cooking with butter and lard and beef dripping!
This is something I noticed way back by now...we're talking 2010-ish after a couple of years "Paleo-ish" as it was thought of at the time, generally real food, low to moderate carbs.
I never linked it to n-6, just better diet overall (which of course would subsume lower n-6).
I was never a huge sunburn guy and usually, after I got a bad one early in the season, it seemed to be protective for future ones.
Anyway, it's been 15 years now without a serious burn. I'm very tanned right now (I live in Thailand, so tan in year-round), I try to hit the pool most bright sunny days at high noon. I never bake in the sun. I do stuff. Move around.
The big test was back in 2020, I spent a few months in rural Thailand building a house where it was outside many hours per day, no shirt ever (shorts only), and never caught a burn, not even tops of shoulders which are the most intensely exposed.
... Oh, another thing is my eye's sensitivity to sunlight. Way less. Before, I could not exist without my sunglasses, ever (took them up in earnest as a teen). Now, I wear them for style as much as anything. If I forget them it's no big. I can function fine without.
I took as much omega 6 out my diet as possible but didn’t focus on adding in omega 3. Took about 18 months for me to properly notice that I didn’t burn anymore. I’m naturally “Scottish blue” in colour! I realised I hadn’t burned as a child in the 70s and 80s but then had burned most of my adult life when I had to start cooking for myself when the prevailing wisdom was for low fat/vegetable oil diets. It seems mum did know best cooking with butter and lard and beef dripping!