Tag Archive for: alpha-linolenic acid

Functional Essential Fatty Acids

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Understanding that linoleic acid is the essential omega-6 fatty acid and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the essential omega-3 fatty acid, the logical question would be what about fish oil and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids? It’s just a little complicated, but let me explain.

It’s true that in humans, we can use ALA to make EPA and DHA. The problem is that it isn’t a dominant biochemical pathway. That’s why the phrase “functional essential fatty acids” are used to describe EPA and DHA. Another way of saying it is that to function at optimal levels, we should get DHA and EPA from either food sources or from dietary supplements every day.

DHA is critical to brain and eye health while EPA has anti-inflammatory properties. The best sources of EPA and DHA would be seafood. For vegetarians, there are some products available that contain these functional fatty acids derived from algae; it’s only a matter of time before the more easily reproducible sources like algae and seaweed replace fish as the primary source found in supplements.

Seed Oils

I’ve written about seed oils several times. I do not disagree that we overconsume seed oils, but most are found in ultra-processed foods; that’s why we end up with the disproportion of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids eaten in our society as a whole. There’s no problem lowering the amount of intake of omega-6s. If you want to use oils in cooking, safflower, sunflower, corn, and soybean oil have the best omega-6 profile; you can certainly find non-bioengineered and organically grown sources of those oils if you want. If you’re going to get oils from food, you might as use the sources with the highest amount of linoleic acid per serving.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Linus Pauling Institute. Essential Fatty Acids
2. J Lipid Res 2014 DOI 10.1194/jlr.R055095

Essential Fatty Acids

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There are always controversies in nutrition. With all that’s been written about seed oils and sources of omega-3 fatty acids, I thought we’d go back to the basics this week—back to what are the essential fatty acids, seen above floating in the bloodstream. Similar to essential amino acids, essential fatty acids are the fats that we cannot make ourselves; therefore, they must be obtained from the foods that we eat. We can make plenty of saturated fats from carbohydrates and even proteins, but we can’t make the two essential fatty acids (FA).

The two essential fatty acids are the omega-6 fatty acid called linoleic acid (LA) and the omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). With those as a base, other fatty acids can be made that have a variety of important functions in the body; the most important function is making cell membranes. If you have adequate amounts of these essential fatty acids, it simply means your cells will work better. The sources for these oils are all plant based: seeds, nuts, and oils from those foods.

Men need about 17 grams of ALA per day while women need about 11. Women need about 1.1 grams of LA per day while men need 1.6 grams per day. That seems like such small amounts when you consider that works out to fewer than 150 calories for women and 200 calories for men, using oils as the primary source.

What about the omega-3s we hear about all the time like EPA and DHA? I’ll get into those on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Linus Pauling Institute. Essential Fatty Acids
2. J Lipid Res 2014 DOI 10.1194/jlr.R055095