Pentadecanoic Acid is an essential fatty acid (EFA). But this was only confirmed as of 2020.

You could call it “No Omega” because it has no double bonds like the Omega EFAs have. It is fully saturated.

We need at least 0.2% in the cell membrane to prevent rapid aging, overt degeneration, and disease, but this level is insufficient to support longevity and health span.

Otherwise, red blood cells (RBCs) degenerate and are broken down in the liver, leaving iron (Fe) deposition causing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and fatty liver disease, heart disease, brain disease, and pancreatic degeneration, including diabetes.

C15 has become more and more deficient in the modern diet. This has resulted in generationally increasing deficiency.

Each organic Pullulan vegicap supplies:

Essential Fatty Acid:

C15: Pentadecanoic Acid 100 mg 100%

Short-Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA):

Sodium Priopionate 50 mg * 

Vitamins:

Vitamin B13: Phosphatidylcholine 99% (Glycine max) 100 mg *

Vitamin B20: ALCAR (Acetyl-L-Carnitine) 200 mg * 

Bioavailability Blend: 34.5 mg

Dosage:

The suggested dose is one to two capsules a day with meals.

Dietary sources:

Goat and sheep dairy supplies abundant C15 if the animals are eating alpine grass. It is lower in corn-fed dairy).

Butter from grass-fed animals supplies about 100 grams of C15 in 1.5 Tablespoons.

In soft goat cheese aged 30 days, C15 becomes free fatty acid.

Research on C15:

• Higher dietary intake of odd-chain fatty acids was associated with a 36% lower risk of mortality over 11 years in a large study.[ref]
• Increasing quartiles of C15:0 levels correlate with decreased cardiovascular disease mortality in the Swedish population.[ref]
• Higher serum C15:0 levels are associated with a 27% lower risk of diabetes.[ref]
• Higher odd-chain fatty acid levels, including C15:0 levels, are associated with a decreased risk of gestational diabetes.[ref]
• Higher C15:0 levels are associated with a lower risk of retinal microaneurysms in patients with diabetic retinopathy.[ref]
• Lower BMI level is associated with higher C15:0 levels.[ref]

• Seven days of supplementing with either inulin or propionate increased C15:0 levels by 13-17%. It also increased C17:0 levels. The control group had no increase in C15:0. Essentially, both inulin and propionate supplementation can increase C15:0 levels a little.[ref]

• Research shows that very long-chain saturated fats (25:0 or 23:0) can be converted into C15:0 and C17:0, and vice versa. There’s also some evidence that the oxidation of cholesterol side chains during bile acid formation can lead to C15:0 formation.[ref]

• The conversion of very long-chain saturated fats to C15:0 is believed to be minor in comparison to the formation of C15:0 from propionate.[ref]

• Short-chain fatty acid production by the gut microbiome has been shown in human studies to increase C15:0 levels.[ref

• Resistant starch has been shown in studies to increase propionate production in the gut microbiome. Cooking and cooling rice causes the starch in rice to change to resistant starch, which is used by gut bacteria to produce propionate. One study showed that cooking rice with a little coconut oil and then cooling it for 10 hours could increase the resistant starch content by up to 10-fold.[ref][ref][ref]
• Cooked and cooled potatoes go through a similar process to produce resistant starch.
• Inulin is another prebiotic fiber that feeds the gut bacteria and promotes short-chain fatty acid production. In mice, Parabacteroides distasonis produces C15:0 when inulin is present.[ref]
• Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Lactobacillus plantarum have been shown in studies to increase propionate.[ref][ref]

• There is only one clinical trial that supplemented C15 at 200 mg/day, and it did not show weight loss or significant improvements in metabolic health. Importantly, but it also didn’t show adverse effects.[ref]

  Since we have been building our deficiency for generations now, rebuilding the level of C15 in the cell membranes will take some time...