My bloody great nutshell

Essential Fatty Acids, Omega 3 and Their Effects on Heart Health, Gout, and Blood Pressure

The significance of the term “essential” in essential fatty acids too often eludes those that are going about their daily life trying to raise a family and keep them healthy. There are two factors that classify a fatty acid as essential. The first is that it is necessary for good health, and preserving life. Secondly, it is not produced by the human body naturally. Therefore, the significance of the term essential is that it is necessary that you ingest them in the foods you eat. If you do not, you are deficient in important ingredients for your health.

One of the major essential fatty acids is Omega 6. The average American is ingesting more than enough of this. Most processed foods in the USA contain oils high in Omega 6. Using corn, safflower, soybean, sunflower, or cottonseed oils will also increase your intake of Omega 6 fatty acids. It is suggested that you decrease your use of these oils and decrease the amount of processed foods that you eat.

The other major fatty acid that you need is Omega 3.

Contrary to Omega 6, you are probably not getting enough Omega 3 from your normal diet. If you are not eating fish 2 to 3 times a week, or if you do not eat flax seeds, you are deficient in Omega 3.

Omega 9 is technically not an essential fatty acid because your body will produce Omega 9 provided the other two are present. However, if you do not have a proper balance of these essentials, you need to ingest omega 9 fatty acids.

If you are not willing to increase the amount of fish that you eat on a weekly basis, you need to add an omega 3 fish oil supplement or flax seed supplement to your diet. For those who are consciously decreasing the amount of omega 6, by eliminating processed foods and oils high in Omega 6 from your diet, the best source of these essentials is flax seed, however flax seed already contains a good balance of the three essential fatty acids.

Most people will want to add a fish supplement to achieve a better balance of essential fatty acids in their diet.

A proper balance of these essential fatty acids have been found to be advantageous in lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides. All of this is good news for your heart health. These have been found to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death and coronary heart disease. This proper balance should also increase the effectiveness of your body’s natural immune system. For those of you who will make the effort to eliminate the overabundance of omega 6 fatty acids in your normal diet, taking a flax seed supplement will be more beneficial to your health. One of the major benefits of flax seed is its greater ability to improve your body’s natural immune system. Finally, flax seed with lignans can act as an anti-inflammatory, which could help reduce inflammation in the event of a gout attack. Regardless of how you choose to achieve the correct balance of essential fatty acids in your diet, the health benefits of doing so are invaluable.