EFAs -The fats of Life! - We need more omega-3
Abbreviations: PUFAs (Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids), incl. the EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids):
- Omega 6 (O6): LA (linolenic acid); GLA (gamma-linolenic acid); DGLA (Dihomo-gamma-linolenic) AA (Arachidonic acid.
- Omega-3 (O3): ALA (alpha linolenic acid); SDA (stearidonic acid) EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid); DHA (Docosahexenoic acid).
What are essential fatty acids (EFAs) ?
EFAs are two families of "Must-have" energetic PUFAs called omega-3 and omega-6
EFA presence in our cell membranes is critical in every system in the body.
Very much involved in today’s metabolic and inflammatory diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer EFAs are responsible for many functions in the body:
- Increase cellular energy production;
- Control traffic in and out of cells;
- Mediators (called eicosanoids) produced from EFAs are the “First responders” to any trauma causing inflammation by modifying blood pressure, pain, cell-proliferation, and airway dilation;
- Affect our mood, intelligence and behavior;
EFAs are distinguished by having 2 to 6 bends formed by double carbon bonds in their carbon-chain “backbone”.
Negatively-charged electron clouds at each bend make them highly chemically-reactive by providing sites for oxidation. Their shape ranges from having a couple of bends to looking like a curled up caterpillar (saturated fatty acids have straight bodies that can lie compactly together). These “bendy” fatty acids reside in ALL our cell membranes (except red blood cells) and are crucially responsible for our health.
Good sources: flax, hemp and chia seeds
Good sources: fish oil, grass-fed animals / poultry
The EFAs MUST BE EATEN in food or supplements
Our body is unable to manufacture EFAs. Humans lack the enzymes required to incorporate a double-bond beyond the 9th carbon of a fatty acid.
Best evidence indicates an optimum PUFA intake of only 4% of calories. Compared to the amount of saturated and monounsaturated fat in our bodies we contain very little polyunsaturated fat, so we don’t need to consume a lot of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs. These can typically be provided in temperate and tropical diets from legumes, grains, nuts, green vegetables, fish, olive / avocado oil and animal fats.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are present in highest amounts in meat, eggs, and the oils of nuts, seeds, vegetables, fish, seafood and marine algae. Some fatty acids predominate in certain foods (E.g. the richest source of Omega-3 ALA is flaxseed, best source of Omega-3 EPA is oily fish, and meat and eggs are high sources of omega-6 AA). Also, fatty acids can be converted by enzymes in the body after consumption (as indicated by the ⇒ arrows below). The EFAs include:
- Omega-3: ALA ⇒ SDA ⇒ ETA ⇒ EPA ⇒DPA⇒ DHA
- Omega-6: LA ⇒ GLA ⇒ DGLA ⇒ AA
Chart of EFAs in food and their conversions to eicosanoids in the body
Amount of essential fats in foods |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount | Food Sources | LA (g) | GLA | AA | ALA (g) | EPA/DHA |
| Daily Requirements: LA (g) Minimum 9-18g; ALA (g) **** Minimum 2-9g | ||||||
| Seeds & Seed Oils / Algae | ||||||
| 1 T | Flaxseed Oil | 1.7 g | 7.3 g | yields ~1.1.g **** | ||
| 1 tsp. (3 g) | Chia seeds | 1.7 g | ||||
| 3 T.*** | GROUND Flaxseed (3T ground equiv, to 2½ Tbsp. whole) | 1.245 g | 4.8 g | yields ~0.75g **** | ||
| ¼ tsp. /~1000mg | Borage Oil | 250mg | ||||
| ¾ tsp. | Evening Primrose Oil | 345mg | ||||
| 1 T | Hemp Oil ** | |||||
| .Red or Brown Algae | ||||||
| Fish 100g (~3.5 oz) COOKED / Fish Oil | ||||||
| ~3.5 oz. Cooked | FRESH oily Fish – Salmon, herring, albacore, sardines, rainbow trout, mackerel | ~0.9 g | Average ~0.25 g | Av.~ 1.0g DHA/EPA | ||
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Atlantic Salmon – Farmed^ | ~1.3 g | ~1.3g | ~ 0.1g | 1.5g DHA /0.7g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Chinook Salmon -Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.7 g DHA /1.0 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Coho Salmon -Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.8 g DHA /0.4 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Sockeye Salmon-Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.7 g DHA /0.5 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Chum Salmon-Wild^ | ? | ? | ? | 0.5 g DHA /0.3 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Rainbow Trout -Farmed^ | ~1.75 g | 0 | 0.7 g | 0.83 g DHA /0.33 g EPA | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Rainbow Trout -Wild^ | ~0.5 g | ~.2 g | .23 g | 1.12 g | |
| ~3.5 oz. cooked | Other FRESH fish (E.g. Cod)^ | negligible | <0.25g | |||
| 1 tsp. | Fish Oil | 0 | 1.18g | |||
| 1 tsp. | Cod Liver Oil | ~1g | ||||
| Amount | Food Sources | LA (g) | GLA | AA | ALA (g) | EPA/DHA |
| Eggs | ||||||
| 1 Lg. (50g) | Commercial Egg^ | .57g | .02 g | .04 g | ||
| 1 Lg. | Omega-3 Enriched Egg | .7g | .4 g | |||
| 1 Average | Egg (from pasture-ranged hen) | .09 g | .09 g | |||
| Nuts | ||||||
| 20 (full ¼C) | Walnut Halves (~4C/#) | 11.4 g | 2.7 g | yields ~0.4g**** | ||
| 17 (full ¼C) | Pecans | 6.2 g | .3g | **** | ||
| Scant ¼C | Brazil nuts | 6.2 g | 0 | **** | ||
| Scant ¼C | Pistachios | 4.0g | 0.08 g | **** | ||
| 26 (Scant ¼C) | Almonds | 3.7 g | 0 | **** | ||
| 17 (Scant ¼C) | Cashews | 2.3 g | 0 | **** | ||
| 25 (Scant ¼C) | Hazelnuts | 2.3 g | 0 | **** | ||
| 23 (Scant ¼C) | Macadamias | 0.4 g | .06 g | **** | ||
^ U.S. Dept. of Agriculture 2003;
**Hemp oil’s THC content fails drug test, but is not illegal.
*** Canada is a prime grower of flax, so it is ironic that Canadian law makes it illegal to declare EFA content on a product label, which would otherwise enlighten people to the fact that flaxseed is the richest source of ALA.
**** Conversion rate of ALA to EPA and DHA is conservatively estimated at 10-15%. i.e. 5g ALA at best yields ~0.75g EPA/DHA. And vice versa 1g EPA/DHA is equivalent to consuming 6.7g ALA
Oil LA Content – in Safflower (75%), sunflower (65%), corn (59%), and sesame (45%). These oils contain <1% Omega 3
Symptoms of omega-3 and omega-6 deficiency
Of special note: a tell-tale sign of a possible omega-3 deficiency is “chicken skin” (called keratosis pilaris or follicular keratosis) – bumpy, rough skin. on the tops of the arms (also found on face, cheeks, torso and tops of legs). Occurs as a result of build-up of hard, dry skin around hair follicles. However, not all “chicken skin” is due to an O3 deficiency.
| Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) Deficiency Symptoms |
Omega-3 EPA/DHA Deficiency symptoms |
|---|---|
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| Linoleic acid (LA) Deficiency Symptoms: |
Omega-6 DGLA Deficiency symptoms (GLA /DGLA decreases during Illness) |
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We need more Omega-3 - A "No-brainer" 
to prevent and resolve many health problems of today. Most diets fall way short!
"Research says if you increase omega-3's in the diet, you improve every major degenerative condition of our time"
– Udo Erasmus PhD (wrote the book on fats: “Fats that heal, Fats that kill”)
A typical Western diet has an abundance of "call-to-action" Omega-6 fat, and a woefully deficient amount of "calming / back-to-normal" Omega-3 fat
Today’s O6 to O3 dietary ratio has drastically changed compared to 100 years ago. 95-99% of the population consumes an average of a mere 1/6th of the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fat eaten by people in the mid-1800’s, which even back then was not enough for optimum health. This has occurred due to changes in farming methods, food production and processing, and also people eating less oily fish.
The invention of the seed press introduced copious amounts of O6-rich soybean and corn oils (btw-most sources of both these oils are GM) into our food supply. Prior to the introduction of commercially processed oils in the 1930’s, small amounts of both O6 and O3 EFAs were traditionally consumed in a more-or-less balanced ratio and that ratio is now estimated at > 10:1. Food soy oil production increased 1000-fold during the 1900’s, especially in processed foods, coupled with the market push to switch from butter to corn-based margarine.
Meat from non-grass-fed animals and non-pastured-poultry are low in O3 content. O3 fat is no longer obtained from poultry spending time outdoors eating worms and bugs. Livestock are fattened in confinement, raised on predominately O6-rich, corn /soy diets (corn and soy are government subsidized (50 people on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans received farm subsidies, while 62% of U.S. farms did not), and a low omega-3 diet (E.g. O3 content of beef from grass-fed cows is up to 4%, compared to 0.5% for corn-fed cows).
People are not eating oily fish or other rich sources of O3. Many people simply don’t like the taste of fish. Salmon is expensive and farmed salmon (fed O3) is likely to contain toxins. Omega-3-rich partridge and flax seeds are rarely on the menu, and —- when did you last enjoy some O3-rich eyeballs, brains or testicles (“Rocky mountain oysters”) with your fries?
Nutrients required to convert omega-3 ALA plant sources to needed EPA and DHA may be missing from our diet
We need to purposefully obtain "calming", anti-inflammatory omega-3 - Which turns out to be quite a challenge!
Most significant dietary sources of omega-3 are:
Oily fish (salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines), grass-fed beef and poultry, game, eyeballs, brain, testes, and oils in flax, chia, blackcurrant and hemp seed. The plant sources require conversion of omega-3 ALA to its necessary active forms: EPA and DHA, which conversion requires certain nutrients and has several obstacles.
The “O3-Fix”
Lacking sufficient omega-3 fat in our diet, the daily “O3-Fix” BUDWIG PROTOCOL involves delicious recipes containing flax oil, flaxseed and marine oil for the purpose of obtaining sufficient anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids to promote health – and as an inherent bonus – it also provides the richest source of health-beneficial lignans (amongst many benefits, these phytoestrogens help balance hormones) and fiber from flaxseed. Having fixed an omega-3 deficiency, the daily ‘No-brainer’ “Make-it-happen” smoothie includes maintenance levels of omega-3 fat, flaxseed (lignans and fiber), Magnesium, Iodine, Vitamin C, Vitamin D – and other nutrients all crucially necessary for health and typically missing from most diets.
Do we need to curb the amount of inflammatory / "call-to-action" O6 we eat?
Omega-6 DGLA can either lead to anti-inflammatory eicosanoid activity with omega-3 presence, or else it converts to AA, which except for prostacyclin, produces mostly inflammatory activity.
Some studies have shown that the body may have built-in mechanisms to limit the over-inflammatory effect of too much omega-6, but if you want to deal with the common problems of today and enjoy health, you must include sufficient omega-3 in your diet.
Some studies reveal that the body may be dealing with our excessive intake of O6 LA by limiting its conversion to inflammatory arachidonic acid (AA). Increasing dietary linoleic acid does not increase tissue arachidonic acid content in adults consuming Western-type diets: a systematic review
Additionally, IF we have consumed them, omega-3 fatty acids can block LA conversion to Omega-6 AA (and its subsequent production of predominately inflammatory eicosanoids).
| Which foods typically supply Omega-6 Linoleic acid (LA) in U.S.? | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Food | % | Food | % |
| Chicken / chicken dishes | 17% | Cold-cuts | 3% |
| Grain-based desserts (cakes, cookies, etc) | 9% | Pork / Pork dishes | 3% |
| Beef / beef dishes | 7% | Mexican dishes | 3% |
| Sausage, franks, bacon and ribs | 7% | Pizza | 3% |
| Fish / Fish dishes | 6% | Turkey | 3% |
| Burgers | 5% | Pasta / pasta dishes | 2% |
The incredible health benefits of consuming EFAs
Omega-3 fatssupportimmune, nervous andcirculatory systems |
||
|---|---|---|
| AIDS | Cardiovascular disease | Lupus |
| Allergies | Cerebral palsy | Multiple Sclerosis |
| Alzheimer’s Disease | Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Nerve transmission problems |
| Angina | CHRONIC INFLAMMATION | Nervous disorders (e.g. anxiety)zz |
| Anorexia | Congestive Heart Failure | Neuralgia |
| Arterial Circulation | Dandruff | Osteoarthritis |
| Arthritis | Depressionzz | Osteoporosis |
| Asthma | Diabetes mellitus | Parkinson’s disease |
| Atherosclerosis | Ear wax (excess) | Peripheral neuropathyz |
| Arteriosclerosis | Ezema | PMS |
| ADHDzz | Infections | Poor circulation |
| Autoimmune disorders | Fatigue | Psoriasis |
| Allergies | Fibromyalgia | Raynaud’s disease |
| Arryhthmia | Heart disease | Scleroderma |
| Blood Clots | High Cholesterol | Senility |
| Bueurger’s disease* | Hyperactivity | Skin inflammation |
| Cancer** | All Inflammatory conditions | Tourette’s Syndrome |
* Lowers cardiovascular risk factors ^ Raises energy levels, stamina # Dampens immune symptoms z Peripheral neuropathy = peripheral nervous damage |
** Inhibits cancer growth and metastasis ^^ Improves bone mineralisation ## Increases thermogenesis (fat burning), decreases fat production zz Improves concentration |
*** Speeds healing from injury physical exertion, surgery ^^^ Increases INSULIN sensitivity ### Bueurger’s disease – blood vessel obstruction in hands/feet |
Health problems helped w/omega-6 GLA supplementation
• Premenstrual breast pain and premenstrual syndrome symptoms (bloating, irritability, depression);
• Sjogren’s syndrome (drying/atrophy of tear/salivary glands).
EFAs impact 5 vital functions supporting all body systems
(1) EFAs - Cell membrane integrity
As structural elements of cell membranes, EFAs replace saturated fats in membrane phospholipids. Their bent shape keeps the membranes fluid, controlling nutrients and waste into and out of cells.
(2) Eicosanoids - "First-Alert Responders"
- EFAs can have inflammatory and / or anti-inflammatory effect
Activated by traumatic stimuli, certain EFAs (EPA, DHA, DGLA, AA) in the cell membrane convert to hormone-like molecules, called eicosanoids, which alert the cell’s “neighborhood” to take appropriate action to regulate heart rate, blood pressure, blood clotting, kidney function, vascular and airway dilation / constriction , cellular proliferation, and immune response – controlling inflammation / pain, fighting infection, and promoting tissue repair, +++ in the vicinity of a cell. Eicosanoids are also produced at base levels to maintain homeostasis.
Today’s typical Western diet contains an unhealthy presence of high-heat-processed, mostly omega-6-rich oils and fats.These are the solvent-extracted / refined, partially- and fully-hydrogenated EFA oils prolifically used in food dishes, processed products, shortening, margarine and salad dressings / mayonaise.Quite apart from adding to your body’s Omega-6 overload, the high-heat, chemically-changing processing damages the delicate EFAs in the oils, introducing altered, unnatural fats (e.g. trans fats), which if consumed can wreak havoc in your body. The damage continues when the oil is then used in high-heat cooking, such as deep-frying. The final insult is that with the exception of sunflower oil, about 90% of EFA oils are from GMO seeds.
(3) Cellular energy production
The double carbon bonds of EFA’s are chemically very active, attracting oxygen and sunlight’s energetic electrons to the cell, which improves cell energy metabolism and electrical potentials for nerve transmission.
Omega-3 DHA (most abundant in fish oils) is necessarily abundant in the brain, retina, inner ear, adrenal glands and testes to ensure their high OXYGEN requirement, and thus their ability to produce sufficient ENERGY to perform their high energy-requiring tasks.
(4) Systems support
- Blood sugar regulation
- Brain / nerve function
- Cancer prevention
- Cardiovascular protection
- Inflammatory response mediation
- Kidney function / water retention
- Weight management
- Growth / Repair
- Immune system regulation
- Reproductive health
- Skin health
- Vision health
- Digestion
(5) Pregnancy and child development
EFAs are involved in conception, pregnancy, post-partum depression and child behavior and particularly neural development.
TOXIC (High-heat-processed / Altered) oils NEED TO GO!
What TOXIC oils?
Today’s typical Western diet contains an unhealthy presence of high-heat-processed, mostly omega-6-rich oils and fats.
These are the solvent-extracted / refined, partially- and fully-hydrogenated EFA oils prolifically used in food dishes, processed products, shortening, margarine and salad dressings / mayonaise.Quite apart from adding to your body’s Omega-6 overload, the high-heat, chemically-changing processing damages the delicate EFAs in the oils, introducing altered, unnatural fats (e.g. trans fats), which if consumed can wreak havoc in your body. The damage continues when the oil is then used in high-heat cooking, such as deep-frying. The final insult is that with the exception of sunflower oil, about 90% of EFA oils are from GMO seeds.
Which foods contain O6?
Linoleic acid (LA), which can be converted by enzymes to predominately inflammatory / “call-to-action” arachidonic acid (AA) is the most consumed dietary EFA comprising 70% of O6 intake (and up to 30% of consumed calories).
LA is mostly obtained from O6-rich soybean, sunflower, corn, and cottonseed OILS, margarine (partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) and shortening (hydrogenated vegetable oils).
