ESSENTIAL
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about essential fatty acids and healthy eating.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
Open any
fitness or health magazine and you’re sure to
find at least one article on essential fatty
acids. But, what actually are they? What do they
do? Where are they found? What if they’re
missing from the diet?
Well, for
starters, essential means just that; without
them the body will eventually perish. Scientists
have classified Alpha-Linolenic Acid and
Linoleic Acid as being the two essential fatty
acids (EFA’s) needed by humans. Unlike other
fatty acids, the human body is not capable of
synthesizing these two and therefore, must
derive its supply through food sources.
UNDERSTANDING
FATTY ACIDS
Alpha-Linolenic Acid (LNA) and Linoleic
Acid (LA) were the discovery of a husband and wife team, George and Mildred
Burr, at the University of Minnesota in 1929. Working with animals, they
found that a deficiency in EFA’s produced dry skin, brittle and thickened
hair, impaired growth, kidney problems and the inability to reproduce.
Untreated, the animals died. Interestingly, with the reintroduction of LNA
and LA to the animals, health problems were reversible.
Similar symptoms are seen in humans who are deficient in EFA’s, as shown in 1956
by researcher Hugh Sinclair. Although ostracized by the medical community,
Sinclair went on to publish papers in prestigious journals reporting that many
common diseases such as coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes, inflammation,
and strokes were the results of incorrect fat ratios in the diet. In other
words, these diseases were somehow connected with EFA imbalances and
deficiencies.
Importance of Essential Fatty Acids
As research has continued on EFA’s, the realization of their importance to life
has grown. Looking broadly at the roles they play in the human body, it can be
said that they control the body’s ability to grow, its energy state and its
mental acuity. They are involved in almost every facet of life. EFA’s aid in
oxygen transfer in the lungs, they are precursors of prostaglandins
(hormone-like substances regulating a cascade of bodily actions), they are
involved in chromosome stability and cell division, and they even help in muscle
recovery after exercise.
EFA's in the Diet
The dietary requirements of EFA’s are still unknown, as there are many variables
that may determine how much is needed each day. The exact amount is dependent on
levels of physical activity, stress, current nutritional status, sex, age and
weight. To prevent a deficient state, the current trend is to incorporate one to
two percent of a person’s daily calories in the form of LA. For optimal health,
the amount may be closer to six percent of daily calories as LA. LNA, on the
other hand, is needed in lesser amounts, possibly in the range of two percent of
daily calories.
LNA, a member of the omega-3 fatty acid family, can be found in flax seed, hemp
seed, canola oil, soybeans, walnuts and dark-green leaves. Flax seed, the
richest source of LNA currently known, has been found to contain over 50% of its
fatty acids as LNA. Sources of LA, which belongs to the omega-6 fatty acid
family, are safflower oil, sunflower oil, hemp, soybeans, walnuts, pumpkin,
sesame and flax. In this instance, it is the safflower and sunflower oils that
contain the highest concentrations of LA.
As science moves forward, more discoveries on the health benefits of LNA and LA
will continue to be unearthed. At the present, however, research has shown that
EFA’s are, indeed, essential to life.
Understanding Essential
Fatty Acids for your
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Eating Fatty Acids and Advice
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about essential fatty acids and healthy eating.