Fats -
How Can Fat Be Essential?
Did you know that some
fats are essential to the body? Yes, there are some
fats that our body cannot produce which means that we must get them from
our food. Perhaps you’ve heard of omega-3 fatty
acids and omega-6 fatty acids. These are both
considered essential and must be supplied by the foods we eat.
What do they do? Well, the omega-3 fatty
acid, for example is used for the production of healthy cell membranes
and for the production of a class of hormones called prostaglandins.
You know how aspirin and acetominophen are anti-inflammatories?
So are the prostaglandins that our bodies produce from omega-3
fatty acids.
Now, we need the omega-3’s and the omega-6’s to be in the proper
combination to be most effective to us. Empirical
evidence shows that the proper ratio is about 4:1 between omega-6 and
omega-3 fatty acids. What do you suppose our average
diet gives us? About a 20:1 and up to a 40:1 ratio;
not even close to the optimal ratio.
Why is the balance so out of whack? Well, our
normal diets are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. We get
them from meats, dairy products, and processed foods.
We eat a lot of those foods on average. We
get omega-3 fatty acids from certain vegetable oils such as flaxseed,
canola, and soybean. And we get omega-3 fatty acids
from cold-water fish such as mackerel, sardines, salmon, and tuna.
Eat more fish! You’ve heard that said before,
and now you know why.
Especially the salmon. It is especially rich
in the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon , or
any of the other omega-3 rich fish (but what tastes better than good
salmon?) should be consumed at least once a week.
In order to get the omega-6 vs. omega-3 ratio in order, decrease
your consumption of the saturated fat from meats and dairy products and
increase your consumption of fish such as salmon.
Do you know how else you will benefit from increased consumption
of omega-3 fatty acids? Your cholesterol level will
improve. You see, the essential omega-3 fatty acids
have the ability to help decrease your total cholesterol and your LDL
cholesterol level. The LDL cholesterol is the
so-called bad cholesterol. So you will improve your
cholesterol levels by adding a better balance of omega-3 fatty acids to
your diet.
Not surprisingly, the omega-3 fatty acids can be heart healthy.
Several diseases show improvement when patients increase their
intake of these essential fats. Check out Dr. Ray
Strand’s important book for citings of clinical studies of
omega-3. The book is titled, “What Your
Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You.”
It’s a wonderful book and should be a standard reference volume
in your nutrition library.
Eat well, take appropriate supplements, and stay healthy.
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