Essential Fatty Acid's

There are about 44 nutrients we must have to fuel our bodies to live; 20 minerals, 13 vitamins, 8 amino acids, and 2 Essential Fatty Acids, EFA’s.


These fats are called “Essential” because we absolutely need them for life and the body cannot produce them – we have to take EFA’s in through our food.

Every cell in the body must have the correct balance of EFA’s daily to function properly.

The two EFA’s our body needs are called:

1. Alpha-Linolenic Acid, ALA, popularly known as Omega 3.

2. Linoleic Acid, LA, popularly known as Omega 6.

http://www.udoschoice.ie/what-udos-oil

Omega-3. ALA is found in vegetable sources such as…

• flax seed oil

• soybean oil

• canola oil

• walnuts

• dairy products

• beans

• broccoli


Omega-3 is also found in two marine forms. They are EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). They are found primarily in cold-water fatty fish such as...

• salmon

• mackerel

• lake trout

• herring

• sardines

• albacore tuna

Omega- LA is found in…

• corn oil

• safflower oil

• soybean oil

• sunflower oil

• cottonseed oil

http://www.optimal-heart-health.com/newsletter.html Two other forms of omega-6 are GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid). GLA is also found in plant based oils. ARA is found in many animal based foods.

http://www.optimal-heart-health.com/omega_3.html

So why do we need to have these fats in our diet?

EFA are classed as good fats. More often than not we see fat as a bad thing that we shouldn’t have in our diet – the fact is that we need fat in our diet.

Good fats are essential for making cell walls. The human body is made up of trillions of cells. Cells are the basic functional unit of the body. Having good fats in our diet means that we can build very healthy new cells – this is essential for a healthy you.

Also, good fats raise your HDL or "good cholesterol". One of the jobs of this High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) or "good cholesterol" is to grab your bad cholesterol, LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein), and escort it to the liver where it is broken down and excreted. In other words, these good fats attack some of the damage already done by the bad fats.

Dr Gemma Bailey - Bsc (Hons) Chiro