Fatty acid patterns of the supplements are shown in Table 1. In
flaxseed oil, ALA is predominant; also considerable amounts
of LA are present. The latter is the major fatty acid in
borage oil followed by GLA. Thus, in flaxseed oil n-3 fatty
acids contribute more than 50% to total fatty acid content,
whereas more than 50% of fatty acids in borage oil are of
the n-6 type. Additionally, both supplements contained similar
amounts of tocopherol. Medium-chain fatty acids were present
in the placebo; caprylic and capric acid were dominating.
Volunteers were divided into three groups, flaxseed, borage
and placebo, ingesting four capsules of the supplement per
day over a period of 12 weeks. Daily doses amounted to
2·2 g flaxseed or borage oil; in both groups, intake of tocopherol
was 10 mg/d. Daily dose of the placebo was 2·2 g.