You may be well aware of the health benefits of what are known as Omega 3 essential fatty acids. It's been in the news lately and more and more people are understanding the importance of maintaining an adequate intake of the important essential fatty acids known as Omega 3, and most of us are deficient in these. But you may not have heard of Omega 6 fats and may not be aware of the importance of these to your health, and you may not have heard of the Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio.
We all need good fats known as essential fatty acids for good health. Our body cannot manufacture these itself and so relies on getting them through our diet every day. Omega 3 fats are found in fish, and the vast majority of us are deficient in Omega 3 intake.
However Omega 6 fatty acids are generally found in a range of plant-based food sources that we are not deficient in in our diet. You find Omega 6 fats in sunflower oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, corn oil and more, and soy oil is almost totally comprised of Omega 6 fatty acids.
Because many of these vegetable oils are very cheap they are used extensively in processed foods, particularly in margarine, for this reason our intake of Omega 6 fats, though important for our diet in limited amounts, is excessive.
Research has shown that in the past most of us had an Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio that was roughly 1 to 1. This meant that we ate about the same amount of Omega 3 as Omega 6 fats. But because we now eat much more processed foods and vegetable-based oils estimates are that the Omega 6 Omega 3 ratio has increased to somewhere around, depending on the estimate, from 10 to 1 to 30 to 1. We are now eating much more Omega 6 fats than we have ever done in the past.
Whilst 6 is important to our health increasing the ratio between the 2 as we have done over the last hundred or so years is not. There are a range of health implications from eating too much Omega 6 fatty acids and too little Omega 3. In particular it is thought that we are exposing ourselves to an increased range of lifestyle diseases including cancer, coronary artery disease and various inflammatory related diseases such as arthritis.
And there is also an issue with our meat. Traditionally our farm animals have been raised on grass and this produces meat higher in Omega3. However farming practices have changed over the last hundred years and most of our meat now comes from grain fed animals which produces meat lower in Omega 3 and higher in Omega 6.
Whilst both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats are important to our health most of us are deficient in our intake of Omega 3 and have an Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio that is way too high, and we need to reduce our intake of Omega 6 fats. This can be done by reducing the amounts of processed foods in our diets and by changing our cooking oils from vegetable oils to good oils such as olive oil. And we all need to be increasing our intake of Omega 3 fatty acids with daily fish oil supplements.
However, although all of us should be taking daily fish oil supplements, you need to be aware that there are wide variations in the amount of the Omega 3 fatty acids found in the different brands of fish oil supplements, and you need to know how to make an informed choice when choosing your fish oil supplements.
Visit my website to find out more about the Omega3 Omega 6 ratio and also about how to compare the different fish oil supplements available. - 32389
We all need good fats known as essential fatty acids for good health. Our body cannot manufacture these itself and so relies on getting them through our diet every day. Omega 3 fats are found in fish, and the vast majority of us are deficient in Omega 3 intake.
However Omega 6 fatty acids are generally found in a range of plant-based food sources that we are not deficient in in our diet. You find Omega 6 fats in sunflower oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, corn oil and more, and soy oil is almost totally comprised of Omega 6 fatty acids.
Because many of these vegetable oils are very cheap they are used extensively in processed foods, particularly in margarine, for this reason our intake of Omega 6 fats, though important for our diet in limited amounts, is excessive.
Research has shown that in the past most of us had an Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio that was roughly 1 to 1. This meant that we ate about the same amount of Omega 3 as Omega 6 fats. But because we now eat much more processed foods and vegetable-based oils estimates are that the Omega 6 Omega 3 ratio has increased to somewhere around, depending on the estimate, from 10 to 1 to 30 to 1. We are now eating much more Omega 6 fats than we have ever done in the past.
Whilst 6 is important to our health increasing the ratio between the 2 as we have done over the last hundred or so years is not. There are a range of health implications from eating too much Omega 6 fatty acids and too little Omega 3. In particular it is thought that we are exposing ourselves to an increased range of lifestyle diseases including cancer, coronary artery disease and various inflammatory related diseases such as arthritis.
And there is also an issue with our meat. Traditionally our farm animals have been raised on grass and this produces meat higher in Omega3. However farming practices have changed over the last hundred years and most of our meat now comes from grain fed animals which produces meat lower in Omega 3 and higher in Omega 6.
Whilst both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats are important to our health most of us are deficient in our intake of Omega 3 and have an Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio that is way too high, and we need to reduce our intake of Omega 6 fats. This can be done by reducing the amounts of processed foods in our diets and by changing our cooking oils from vegetable oils to good oils such as olive oil. And we all need to be increasing our intake of Omega 3 fatty acids with daily fish oil supplements.
However, although all of us should be taking daily fish oil supplements, you need to be aware that there are wide variations in the amount of the Omega 3 fatty acids found in the different brands of fish oil supplements, and you need to know how to make an informed choice when choosing your fish oil supplements.
Visit my website to find out more about the Omega3 Omega 6 ratio and also about how to compare the different fish oil supplements available. - 32389
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Want to know more about the best Fish Oil Supplements? Or more about the Omega 6 Omega 3 Ratio? Visit Peter's Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
