The importance Of Omega-3 And Omega-6 Fatty Acids
The importance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The beneficial effects of consuming omega-3 fatty acids are well-publicized, but omega-6 fatty acids appear much less in the news. The importance So, what are fatty acids and why is it important that we get the right balance?
Understand the structure omega-3 and omega-6
Fatty acids consist of a chain of carbon atoms, with a methyl group at one end and an acidic group at the other.
Each carbon atom has a number of hydrogen atoms attached; The exact amount of hydrogen atoms in each carbon depends on whether the fat is saturated or not. The importance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids Saturated fatty acids contain the maximum level of hydrogen atoms possible, while in unsaturated fatty acids, some of the hydrogen atoms are missing and have been replaced by double bonds between carbon atoms.
There are two or more double links. In omega-3 fatty acids, the first double bond occurs in the third carbon atom, but in omega-6 fatty acids, the first double bond is in the
Types of fatty acids
Figure 1 – Types of fatty acids.
Omega-3 and omega-6 in the body
that may be important in this and other diseases. There is also a growing interest in the role of omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of diabetes and certain types of cancer.1
The human body is capable of producing all the fatty acids it needs, except for two: linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6 fatty acid, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid. The importance These should be consumed from the diet and are called “essential fatty acids”. Both fatty acids are necessary for growth and repair, but can also be used to produce other fatty acids. For example, omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can be synthesized from ALA.
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However, since conversion is limited, it is recommended that sources of these also be included in the diet. ALA and LA are found in plant and seed oils. Although LA levels are generally much higher than ALA levels, rapeseed oil and walnut oil are very good sources of the latter. EPA and DHA are found in bluefish (eg, salmon, mackerel, herring). AA can be obtained from animal sources, such as meat and egg yolk.
The omega-3 / omega-6 ratio
In the human body, LA and ALA compete for metabolism for the enzyme delta-6-desaturase. It has been suggested that this is important for health since a high intake of AL would reduce the amount of delta-6-desaturase available for ALA metabolism, which may increase the risk of heart disease. Therefore, the concept of an “ideal” ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the diet was developed.
However, the relationship that is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease has not yet been identified and some experts now suggest that the relationship is less important: what should concern us most is the absolute levels of intake.
A workshop report on this area concluded that simply increasing the amount of ALA, EPA, and DHA in the diet would achieve the desired increase in the levels of these fatty acids in body tissues and that it was not necessary to decrease the intake of LA and AA. 3 In addition, the relationship method does not distinguish between those diets that are suitable in both omega-6 and omega-3, and those diets that are deficient in both.
Intakes
The European Food Safety Authority proposed an adequate intake of AL and ALA at 4 and 0.5 percent of total energy, respectively. The importance For EPA and DHA, adequate intake was set at 250 mg per day. It was also observed that the average total omega-3 intake in Europe ranged from approximately 0.7 to 1.3 percent of total energy. For EPA and DHA, the average intake was found to be between 20 mg and 40 mg per day, and less than 100 mg to 130 mg per day, respectively.3
This can be achieved, for example, by eating fatty fish once or twice a week and occasionally replacing sunflower oil with rapeseed oil.