Good Health And The Omega3 Omega 6 Ratio.
Perhaps you're already aware of the health benefits of essential fatty acids, and in particular Omega 3 fatty acids. There's been plenty of news lately about these health benefits and many people now understand about the importance of maintaining an adequate intake of Omega3 fats, in which most of us are deficient. But have you heard about Omega 6 fats, and do you know what the Omega 3 Omega 6 ratio is?
Essential fatty acids are important for good health. We cannot manufacture these in our body and so we rely on a daily intake of these in our diet. Omega 3 fats are primarily found in fish and research has shown that most of us are deficient in Omega 3 in our diets.
Omega 6 fatty acids, on the other hand, are found in only plant based sources. They are found in vegetable oils like peanut oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil and corn oil are high in Omega 6 and soy oil is almost totally comprised of Omega 6 fat.
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.
Omega 6 essential fatty acids are equally important to our health however just as important is the Omega3 Omega 6 ratio, and over the past hundred years or so this is changed dramatically. By eating too much Omega 6 and too little Omega 3 we are all exposing ourselves to a wide range of health implications including the possibility of various cancers, coronary artery disease and a range of other inflammatory diseases such as arthritis.
Combine this with the fact that in the past most of our meat came from animals which were grass fed, and which therefore had a reasonable level of Omega3 fats, but most of our animals are now grain fed which reduces the levels of omega3 fats and increases the level of Omega 6 and you can see that there is no need at all for supplementation with 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.
It is important to understand however that not all fish oil supplements are as good as others, some having far more of the important fats than others, and you need to know how to compare the different fish oil supplements available to make an informed choice.
Find out how to make this comparison between the different fish oil supplement brands on my website.
Essential fatty acids are important for good health. We cannot manufacture these in our body and so we rely on a daily intake of these in our diet. Omega 3 fats are primarily found in fish and research has shown that most of us are deficient in Omega 3 in our diets.
Omega 6 fatty acids, on the other hand, are found in only plant based sources. They are found in vegetable oils like peanut oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil and corn oil are high in Omega 6 and soy oil is almost totally comprised of Omega 6 fat.
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.
Omega 6 essential fatty acids are equally important to our health however just as important is the Omega3 Omega 6 ratio, and over the past hundred years or so this is changed dramatically. By eating too much Omega 6 and too little Omega 3 we are all exposing ourselves to a wide range of health implications including the possibility of various cancers, coronary artery disease and a range of other inflammatory diseases such as arthritis.
Combine this with the fact that in the past most of our meat came from animals which were grass fed, and which therefore had a reasonable level of Omega3 fats, but most of our animals are now grain fed which reduces the levels of omega3 fats and increases the level of Omega 6 and you can see that there is no need at all for supplementation with 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.
It is important to understand however that not all fish oil supplements are as good as others, some having far more of the important fats than others, and you need to know how to compare the different fish oil supplements available to make an informed choice.
Find out how to make this comparison between the different fish oil supplement brands on my website.
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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.
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