Guest Post Courtesy of the Xtend-Life Blog
Remember the old Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly?” Well, if we were to compare fats to characters in a movie, I’d call the omega 3s, the “Good.” Where does the name “omega 3” come from? Omega and 3 refer to the location of the first double bond between carbons in a long chain of carbon-to-carbon bonds. There are two “essential fatty acids.” They are termed essential because your body cannot make them from other substances; in other words, you must consume them or you will suffer a deficiency*. In this way they are like vitamins. The two essential fatty acids are one omega 3, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), and one omega 6, linoleic acid (LA). There are many kinds of omega 3 fatty acids, the two most commonly known are eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA and docosahexaenoic acid or DHA, both are found primarily in cold-water fish. Another omega 3 is ALA. It is found primarily in a few seeds like flaxseeds, hemp, some nuts and a few grains. There are many omega 6 fatty acids as well, including linoleic acid (LA) found in many vegetable oils, gamma linolenic acid (GLA) most commonly found in Evening Primrose Oil, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) trace amounts are found in meat, and arachidonic acid (AA) which is found in all meats. Each of the substances listed above have specific functions in the body, some good, some not so good. I’ll cover their functions in the body in later articles in this series. It’s important to know that each of the omega 3 fatty acids can be converted into other omega 3s and the same is true with the omega 6 fatty acids (omega 6 fatty acids can be converted into other omega 6s). In other words, if you consume little or no fish (good source of EPA and DHA) yet eat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) in the form of flax seed oil, your body can convert the ALA into EPA and DHA but not very readily. This point will be discussed in detail in future articles in this series. Even though omega 3s can chemically change into other omega 3s they cannot do so very efficiently. For example, the short chain omega 3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid can convert to both EPA and DHA but not efficiently enough to prevent deficiency conditions.
Read more here:
What Are Omega 3 Fatty Acids?
