Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) for Your Health

Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are nutritional elements, which our bodies cannot produce. They are as vital to us as vitamins and we need to ingest them from food sources. There are two main types of essential fatty acids:

• Omega 3 (fish oils & some plant oils)
• Omega 6 (plant oils)

What do they do?

They are needed as building blocks for key body structures, including cell membranes.

Omega 3 is responsible for cell health and cell regeneration. As every part of us consists of cells, each with it’s own membrane, an Omega 3 deficiency affects every part of us – blood, bones, organs, tissue, skin and hair. Many medical professionals believe that this has lead to the increase of what are known as ‘Western Degenerative Diseases’.

These include coronary heart disease, strokes, adult onset diabetes, allergies, behavioural disorders, high blood pressure and inflammatory ailments such as arthritis. (In fact, any ailment ending in ‘itis’ refers to a type of inflammatory condition.) Mental health issues including depression and Alzheimer’s have also been linked to Omega 3 deficiency.

There is a direct correlation between the rapid increase of so called ‘Western degenerative diseases’ and the absence of Omega 3 from our diets. If we look at the diets of the Japanese or Mediterranean countries such as Crete, it is clear that a diet rich in Omega 3 seems to significantly reduce the incidence of deaths from these diseases.

So why are we not getting enough Omega 3 any more?

We are eating more processed foods that ever before and this has meant a shift in the way our foods are processed. Most products and animal foodstuffs are stripped of their Omega 3 content, as they become rancid too quickly to allow a decent shelf life.

Processes used often mean that Omega 6 is present in foods, whilst Omega 3 is not. Most people in Europe and the USA have serious Omega 6 / 3 imbalances. In clinical tests*, an imbalance of up to 20 to 1 was regularly recorded (a healthy balance would be 4:1). In many cases, Omega 3 levels don’t even register in people tested for EFA levels.

*Source: The Omega Plan by Dr. Artemis Simopoulos

Vegetable oils are dominant in Omega-6 fatty acids, but most are completely devoid of complementary Omega-3 fatty acids. The processing of oils derived from corn, peanut, safflower and sunflower created an extremely concentrated source of Omega-6, at the expense of Omega-3.

Modern methods of animal farming were developed to purposely fatten livestock for slaughter. The protocol to date involves pen-feeding livestock with carbohydrate rich grains teeming with Omega-6, yet devoid of Omega-3. As a result, the tissues of domestic livestock contain considerably more Omega-6, at the expense of Omega-3, compared to livestock raised as range-free and wild game.

There are natural food stuffs, which give us Omega 3 – these are:

• oily fish,
• green leafy vegetables and
• certain nuts and seeds

To consume enough of these elements and get on with a hectic life is virtually impossible for most people. Fortunately there is a solution.

What are essential fatty acids?

In nutrition science, essential fatty acid is defined as one of two fatty acids (n-6 and n-3) that are 'essential' to the body, which means that:

The body cannot make them;

• It must have them for health to be possible; and
• The body must therefore obtain 'essential' fatty acids from foods or supplements.

In addition to the 2 EFAs, 20 minerals, 13 vitamins, and 8 amino acids from proteins are also 'essential' for health by the above definition.

Essential fatty acids have a profound impact on various health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, psoriasis and eczema, brain and nerve function, cancer, women's health and other miscellaneous conditions. Neurological disturbances, in which fatty acids may help include dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysphasia, ADHD, Tourette´s syndrome, autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, depression, dementia

Signs and symptoms of EFA deficiency

1. Skin problems: dry, eczema, dandruff, poor wound healing, sweating, loss of pigment, weak blood vessels/bruising, rough skin on upper arms and thighs. Cold peripheries.
2. Organs/glands: kidneys enlarge, kidney failure, blood in the urine, fatty liver degeneration, wasting of salivary and tear glands, pancreas shrinks, subfertility.
3. High cholesterol and impaired glucose metabolism.
4. Obesity.
5. Hormone imbalances and PMS. Cystic breast disease.
6. Allergies (atopic eczema, asthma)
7. Learning disabilities, ADHD, Depression , Autism, and Behavioural disturbances. Higher risk for psychotic illnesses.

The Rationale of Supplementation with Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

The reason for the additional supplementation with EFAs (rather than rely on intake from food alone) is based on our own metabolism's ability to convert, synthesise and process our intake of essential fatty acids.

In many individuals the enzymes are inhibited in some way, and the pathways blocked. For example:

• Heavy consumption of processed cooking oils and margarines can interfere with the role of delta-6-desaturase, which produces gammalinolenic acid (GLA) in our bodies.
• In certain groups of people, some constitutional malfunctioning in the functioning of Delta-5-desaturase, inhibits their ability to synthesise important fatty acids such as EPA.
• Persons with cancer, allergies (atopic eczema, asthma), zinc deficiency (elderly individuals), alcohol consumption, autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren´s syndrome, colitis ulcerosa etc) are just a few examples.
  

More...Types of EFAs