Omega-3 Healthy Eating Plans

Can you think of a 3-letter word that immediately brings fear and worry to mind? FAT. The millions of people who are spooked by this word do anything they can to get fat out of their healthy diets. In actuality, there is a type of fat that is good nutrition. These are essential fatty acids, like amino acids and dietary fiber, and everyone can easily learn how to eat healthy with this fat.

These fats are 'essential' in 2 ways. First, we need them in order to survive. Second, they can not be synthesized by our bodies, so it is essential that we incorporate the right foods and supplements into healthy diets. Making a concerted effort to include essential fatty acids in healthy meals is the only way to avoid deficiency symptoms and to ensure that the body is primed to perform functions at its best ability.

Fat is present in foods in the form of triglycerides. This structure looks like a capital E, with glycerol as the trunk and different types of fatty acids as the arms. A fatty acid is actually carbon molecules that are linked together. The differing lengths of the chains and numbers of bonds provide the distinction between different types of fatty acids. For instance, saturated fatty acid has a single attachment. A double attachment signifies monounsaturated fatty acid. The type that we want to focus on has 2-6 double attachments and is called polyunsaturated fatty acid, or PUFA.

Essential fatty acids fall under this category of polyunsaturated. The 2 EFAs for humans are linoleic acid (LA), which is an omega-6 fat, and alphalinoleic acid (ALA), an omega-3. No vertebrates (which includes humans) carry the requisite enzymes to make these fatty acids. Plants are the original source of LA and ALA enzymes for humans, and they can also be acquired by consuming animals who have eaten the plants. As long as the enzymes enter the body, fatty acids can be made, so good nutrition has been achieved.

It is so easy to ingest omega-6 LA through unhealthy or healthy eating plans that sometimes we don’t even know we’re eating it. Sources include safflower oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, evening primrose oil, and animal fats. A few more sources offer a significant amount of LA and some ALA: soybean oil, canola oil, walnuts, walnut oil, and wheat germ oil. One group of food sources delivers a ratio of omega-6:omega-3 that has been found to be the healthiest. These are the seeds and oils of hemp, chia, and pumpkin, as well as special omega-3 eggs. One oil stands alone as the single significant source of ALA in healthy diets, and that is flaxseed oil.

The fact that our modern-day diet plans easily fill up with omega-6 while we have to concentrate hard on obtaining omega-3 is important in understanding healthy eating. This is because the more omega-6 that is introduced into fad diets and daily eating habits, the more health problems that occur.

We can look back to the beginning of the 1900s to examine how and why our dietary fat intake became so unbalanced. At this time, there were population booms and industrial advances. One created a problem: the need to feed thousands more people. The other created a solution: grain-fed cattle and poultry and processed packaged foods. This, along with new fat scares, created a food environment full of margarine, refined vegetable oils, white fish, and low-fat versions of protein. Animal fats and tropical oils were cut out and people thought they were eating right. These changes have stayed with us through today.

Meat, fish, eggs, plants, nuts, and berries made up the diets of our earlier ancestors. This natural way of eating right provided enough omega-3 in their healthy diets to complete a 1:1 ratio of LA:ALA. As a result of our diet food changes over time, we now consume ratios between 15:1 and 20:1, favoring omega-6 LA. To be fair, there are several societal shifts that have occurred since the time before heart disease became the top killer of relatively young people. High-sugar diets and less physical activity are two downfalls. However, dietary fat imbalance is a big enough factor to elicit our attention.

Excessive amounts of omega-6 fat as compared to omega-3 fat can cause several problems in the body. First, the metabolism of omega-3 ALA into EPA and DHA is inhibited in the presence of too much omega-6. Second, much of the EPA and DHA that is available is unable to incorporate into cell membranes because of omega-6. Third, more oxidized compounds are formed with a large amount of omega-6 fats in the body, because they are especially vulnerable to attacks by free radicals. For example, oxidized LDL cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis, or thickening of the arteries. Finally, LA converts to products like prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes, which are pro-inflammatories that add plaque to arteries, trigger allergic reactions, irritate bowels, increase blood pressure, and contribute to tumor growth.

All of this information makes a person wonder how to eat healthy with these fatty acids that are essential to survival but can cause serious health conce
s. The answer is balance. Equal amounts, or a 1:1 ratio, of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids would be ideal, but is virtually impossible to achieve in today's world. So, a healthy and reasonable ratio to strive for through healthy diets is 6:1 (omega-6:omega-3). An average diet might take in 60 grams of fat per day. 4 of these grams should be omega-3 fats. This amount is easy to take in through food and supplements.

The subject of EPA and DHA was already touched upon when we learned that its production is inhibited by excessive LA. The benefits of these two omega-3 fatty acids include decreased risk of disease, cancer prevention, depression offset, and leveling of attention deficit disorders. Brain development and visual acuity are two areas that DHA enhances on its own. Eating right will let us experience these benefits because we can get EPA and DHA through food. Krill, marine algae, shellfish (like shrimp and mussels), and cold water fatty fish (like trout, mackerel, sardine, salmon, and herring) are all significant sources of EPA and DHA.

A person who chooses to cut fats entirely out of their diet will soon learn why healthy diets need fat. Without it, the health of body cells starts deteriorating, and signs of deficiency symptoms start showing up. In laboratory studies with rats as the subjects and fat as the manipulated factor, fat-free diets led to inhibited growth, damaged reproduction, and failure to remain healthy.

With all of this information about good nutrition that comes from good fats, you can start modifying your diets and eating right for optimum health.