Sesame Seeds

This is a reminder for me to eat some sesame seeds. Like all healthy foods, sesame seeds are unhealthy because they some essential nutrients. In particular, as a source of protein they are lacking in lysine. (The warning symptom that comes from eating incomplete proteins is often the desire not to eat protein.) Sesame lignans inhibit the delta-5 desaturase enzyme that causes dihomo-gamma lineolic acid (DGLA) to be converted arachidonic acid influencing metabolic pathways as shown in the figure above. It reduces lipid peroxidation rates and is thus sometimes added to fish or safflower oils.

Dietary sesame seeds affect the expression of genes related to fatty acid oxidation in a manner similar to isolated lignan compounds. In particular, they affect the mRNA levels of many enzymes involved in hepatic fatty acid oxidation. Equally important is their affect on the proteins involved in the transportation of fatty acids into hepatocytes and their organelles. Their dramatic effect on the transport of vitamin E has been extensively studied in terms of plasma levels and increased concentrations in the skin. They also effect the regulation of hepatic concentrations of carnitine, CoA and malonyl-CoA. It is very apparent that sesame lignans stimulate hepatic fatty acid oxidation by affecting the gene expression of various proteins regulating hepatic fatty acid metabolism.