Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids: The Role of these Healthy Fats in Inflammation and Health

First, let’s define some of the terms used:

• Fats or fatty acids (FA) are long chains of carbon atoms linked to up to four hydrogen atoms and up to two oxygen atoms. The specific way the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms are linked defines fatty acids.
• These FA can be saturated or unsaturated. Saturated fats mean that each carbon atom in the fat is attached to other carbon or hydrogen atoms with all 4 possible bonds made up of single bonds—in other words, the carbon atoms have the maximum number of bonds they can—they are saturated. Unsaturated fats have at least some carbon atoms that are double bonded to another carbon atom. Why is this important? Because UNsaturated fatty acids tend to be the healthier fats.
  • The unsaturated fats can be monounsaturated, meaning there is one (mono=1) double bond—they are then abbreviated as MonoUnsaturated Fatty Acids or MUFAs.
  • The unsaturated fats can also have more than one carbon with a double bond. These are the PolyUnsaturated Fatty Acids or PUFAs.
  • These MUFAs and PUFAs are thought to be the healthiest fats.
• Hydrogenated fat is a phrase that refers to the chemical processing that adds extra hydrogen atoms to the FA, making them less healthy and fully saturated fats. The REALLY unhealthy trans fats are a result of this chemical processing.
• One group of FA is called the essential fatty acids (or EFA) because humans cannot make them in adequate amounts for optimal health. The EFAs are the omega-3 FA and the omega-6 FA. The numbers 3 and 6 refer to the location of the double bonds.
  • There is really nothing unhealthy about omega-6 EFAs when eaten in moderation. They are just everywhere, so it is relatively easy to get enough omega-6 EFAs.
  • Omega-3 EFAs can be obtained through eating fish (tuna, mackerel, herring, salmon) and vegetables such as soybeans and soybean products (tofu, miso), walnuts, and flaxseed. The key thing to remember is the ratio between the omega-6 FA and the omega-3 FA.
  • We usually get enough omega-6 FA in foods. For optimal health, we want to increase the levels of the omega-3 FA and get the ratio (Omega-6: Omega-3) of these two types of fats as close as possible from 1:1 to about 4:1.
    • Ancient humans—who had a much lower rate of cancer and chronic diseases—are believed to have eaten roughly the same(1) amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fats—studies(2) indicate they ate about a 1:1 ratio.^, In some countries, people consume 20 times more Omega-6 than Omega-3! In those countries where the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is over 4:1, there is a corresponding(3) increase in

      chronic(4) disease.

According to the World Health Organization(5) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fats should make up anywhere between 20 and 35% of our calorie intake. Of this, roughly a third should come from saturated fats, another third from monounsaturated fats, and the rest from polyunsaturated fats.