ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS

When we think about fats, most people  back off, as health conscious people we know that we need to cut down on fatty food, however that’s only half of the story.

If Angelina Jolie had been informed about  a diet high in essential fatty acid omega 3 , she maybe have thought twice about cutting off  both her boobs to avoid breast cancer Or did she really?

Most of us don’t realize how important fats are but that means good fats. We think all fats are bad but that’s not true.

SATURATED FATS UNSATURATED FATS

We tend to see oils as one homogenous liquid like water, forgetting that all things have a molecular structure and it’s this structure that separates good fats from bad fats, saturated from unsaturated fats.

The importance of fats wasn’t discovered until the last quarter of the  the 20^th century because the technology had not been invented till then. The nutritional pioneer Ralph T Holman was one of the pioneers in this.

Before we talk about good fats lets briefly discuss bad fats and why fats have got a bad press.

A lot of fats in the western diet are fatty acids but they are not essential fatty acids they are saturated fatty acids.  They are linked some of our most serious health problems, bowel cancer, heart attacks and strokes, coronary heart problems, mental health problems, depression, diabetes and stored as body fat, obesity.

Even those of us who are health conscious, we have to know that there are unsaturated fats which are great for prominent wellbeing, however the ratio/ balance between these / fats oils is very important.

SATURATED FATS

Saturated fats are the fats that give all fats a bad name, they are found in dairy products; full fat milk, butter, cheese, meat particular; pork and red meats, animal meat fat; lard, some tropical oils,olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, palm oil.

Some saturated fats like HOME MADE NUT BUTTERS are  not all bad because its saturated because other nutrients in NUT BUTTER are good , it’s just that a diet containing animals fats leads to some fatal health problems..

I suggest to people that a little  real cow’s butter is better health wise than trans-fat like margarine, they both contain the same calories but the butter is actually purer because its less process that the margarine.

As well as cutting down  SATURATED AND MAN-MADE TRANS FATS good to have the right balance of EFA’s essential fatty acids. These are called OMEGA 6 AND OMEGA 3.

 

 

 

ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS EFA’s

We know the balance and knowledge are essential to optimum health. The body doesn’t make these fats so they have to be consumed from other sources.

The reason why these EPA are essential to the body is because they body is made up of billions of cells, they are the building blocks that are the body. The membranes of these cells are like the outside of a brick and its EPA, ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS  and hydration that keep these membranes strong as well as fluid enabling them to do their work regulating the bodies functions.

They keep the cell membrane of all body’s cells fluid and flexible instead of rigid and unable to do its job. Chemical pass in and out of the membrane cell wall as the cell is getting on with its regenerating work. SO THE RIGHT BALANCE OF EPA’S HELPS THE BODY have good cell activity, good skin, hair and nails, the skin being the largest organ that is involved in absorption, de toxification, protection and temperature control; regulatory actions. These oils help the brain have good energy and clarity. For the muscles and joints these oils get better resistance and more flexibility. They increase fertility, healthy pregnancy and good urinary function as well as many more positive benefits.

It is a global manipulation of communities by presenting them with the wrong foods as attractive while at the same time causing too many illness that provide clients for private health care, starve nations to control social unrest, create behavior problems to later fill prisons.

BALANCE OF OMEGA 6 AND OMEGA 3 AND OMEGA 9

There is so much bad information about the ratios of OMEGA 6 :OMEGA 3 OILS

It is ignorant and outrageous that The American Health Association is still advocating a diet high in Omega 6 oils which actually lead to heart disease and other fatal diseases.

They and their associates advocate ratios like 25:1 or 10: 1.These are still unhealthy ratios. Cultural diets high in Omega 6 and low in Omega 3 and Omega 9, which are diets high in animals fats and saturated  and processed  vegetables fats like vegetable oil, sunflower oil, used for deep frying and hidden in things like shop bought cakes.

An excess of Omega 6 and a defecency of Omega 3 and Omega 9 leads to these and more ids-eases

A wide range of health problems have been linked to omega-3 fat deficiencies, including:

 

• Increased inflammation
• Depression and violence
• Weight gain and diabetes
• Allergies and eczema
• Memory problems and dyslexia

 

Omega 6 is the mostly commonly used essential fatty acid  EFA, it is found in oils like corn, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed oils.

We have to remember for cheaper food production and longer shelf life, these oils are not only used for cooking /frying/deep frying, they are also added to shop and homemade cakes instead of butter.

They’re also used in other processed foods.

PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH TOO MUCH OMEGA 6 OIL

It is an excess of this essential fatty acid that is connected with the following health problems; asthma, heart attack, stroke, cancer, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, lupus, arthritis, depression, to name a few.

Omega 6 needs to be balance with omega 3, ideally in equal amounts. The western diet eats up to 14 times more omega 6 than omega 3.

Let’s get to the good news, omega 3 found in some green leafy veggies, flax seed, fish, fish oil, sea vegetables, and walnut.

The best source of omega 3 is fatty fish like herrings, mackerel, salmon, sardines and tuna.

VEGETARIAN OMEGA 3

However if you are a vegetarian one of the best sources is flax seeds, hemp seeds and flax seeds.

Ideally they are so be soaked before using to release enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid that will rob body of minerals

It’s good to eat oily fish about 3 times a week. Most of the green leafy vegetable that are great for omega 3 are those that the Lego land mentalities would consider weeds, recently on part of a globe food campaign where we could only eat for £1 a day, we supplemented our diet by going foraging, we collected dandelion leaves, wild garlic and nettles, truthfully I didn’t even notice my period coming on that cycle. Other good greens for omega 3 are purslane, Swiss chard, mustard greens collard greens and kale.

 

OLIVE OIL

Is a healthy  MONO UN-saturated fat, high in Omega 9. Vitamin k, iron , zinc as well as many undiscovered phytonutrients

• Olive oil is the best edible oil in terms of palatability, stability, lipid profile, and safety profiles.

Several sources of information suggest that human beings evolved on a diet with a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA) of approximately 1 whereas in global urbanized  diets the ratio is 15:1

Urbanised diets are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and have excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids compared with the diet on which human beings evolved and their genetic patterns were established. Excessive amounts of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and a very high omega-6/omega-3 ratio, as is found in today’s Western diets, promote the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, whereas increased levels of omega-3 PUFA (a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio) exert suppressive effects. In the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, a ratio of 4/1 was associated with a 70% decrease in total mortality. A ratio of 2.5/1 reduced rectal cell proliferation in patients with colorectal cancer, whereas a ratio of 4/1 with the same amount of omega-3 PUFA had no effect. The lower omega-6/omega-3 ratio in women with breast cancer was associated with decreased risk. A ratio of 2-3/1 suppressed inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and a ratio of 5/1 had a beneficial effect on patients with asthma, whereas a ratio of 10/1 had adverse consequences. These studies indicate that the optimal ratio may vary with the disease under consideration. This is consistent with the fact that chronic diseases are multigenic and multifactorial. Therefore, it is quite possible that the therapeutic dose of omega-3 fatty acids will depend on the degree of severity of disease resulting from the genetic predisposition. A lower ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids is more desirable in reducing the risk of many of the chronic diseases of high prevalence in Western societies, as well as in the developing countries, that are being exported to the rest of the world.

USEFUL READING

https://draxe.com/omega-3-foods/

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=132

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909