Omega-6 fatty acids: what you should know about it
Related Videos: The Benefits Of Omega-3 Fats (May 2024).
Omega-6 fatty acids have a bad reputation because they are considered harmful to health. Since our food contains too much omega-6 in the times of industrial food production, we consume too little of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-6 fatty acids favor inflammation
In times of industrial food production, omega-6 fatty acids predominate in most products. In order to be optimally supplied with all necessary nutrients, there should be a balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in our food. However, this is less and less the case.
- Omega-6 fatty acids are among the saturated fatty acids that are said to have a bad impact on our health.
- On average, an adult consumes about 15 times more omega-6 fatty acids than unsaturated omega-3 fatty acid, which is considered healthy.
- Basically, omega-6 fatty acids are healthy. The human body needs the fatty acid, for example, to keep the body's repair and growth processes going. Omega- 6 is therefore an integral part of the human cell membrane.
- However, the excessive intake of omega-6 fatty acid has a harmful effect on your body. The arachidonic acid contained in omega-6 forms tissue hormones. These act on your body in a similar way to an immune defense by promoting the development of inflammation.
- While inflammation can be very useful for a cold because it helps fight off pathogens, it is harmful to the blood vessels in a healthy organism.
- The more easily inflammation can develop, the more likely it is that certain diseases will develop. These include, for example, allergies, cancer, stroke, dementia or diabetes.
- The more omega-6 fatty acids you consume, the more your blood clots. As a result, this leads to narrowing of the blood vessels. Too many blood clots form in the vessels. These can trigger strokes or a heart attack.
Balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids
In order to stay healthy, both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids should be fed to the body in equal amounts through food. Because the natural opponent of Omega-6 is Omega-3.
- In contrast to omega-6, omega-3 fatty acids inhibit inflammation in the body and make the blood more fluid. If both substances are supplied to the body evenly, a balance is created in your body that keeps the organism healthy.
- The excess of omega-6 fatty acids arises from eating unhealthy foods. This includes, for example, meat from factory animals. Because this is already supplied to the animals in sufficient quantities by cheap feed, such as soybean meal. As a result, the meat contains an increased amount of omega-6 fatty acids, which you ingest through consumption.
- In addition to meat, omega-6 can also be found in many finished products. These include, for example, finished baked goods that contain cheap oils, such as sunflower oil, soybean oil or corn kernel oil, and these in turn contain a lot of omega-6.
- Butter and cheese also contain a lot of omega-6. Raw milk, however, less.
- In order to get a sufficient amount of omega-6 and omega-3 from your diet, you should always pay attention to a healthy and balanced diet.
- Omega-3 is found in many types of fish, such as mackerel, salmon or herring. Wild fish contain more omega-3 fatty acids. Raised fish are often fed feeds that are high in omega-6.
- In addition to fish, you will find plenty of omega-3 in algae, chia oil, rapeseed oil and linseed oil.
Linseed oil contains a lot of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids. In our next post, you will learn how linseed oil works and how you can use it.