If you are in a discussion about healthy fats, you most likely hear one of these fatty acids – omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9.
These three are all quite essential to your health and as a dietary fat, they offer numerous benefits. However, you need to get the right balance between these three fatty acids to get the most nutrition out of them.
As you know, imbalance diet leads to various health issues and may even trigger chronic diseases.
So in this post, I will give you a detailed guide about the benefits of these fatty acids, importance, differences and possible side effects.
What Fatty Acids?
Fatty acids are the building blocks of fat that is scattered inside our bodies, and also found in our daily diet.
Upon digestion of foods, our body breaks down fats and convert them into fatty acids which will be absorbed directly into the blood.
Fatty acids are formed from carbohydrates, specifically in the liver and adipose tissue and mammary glands during lactation. Fatty acid molecule groups, which are usually grouped in three, forms a molecule called triglyceride.
The functions of fatty acids in the body are well known especially on its role in energy storage. For example, if glucose (which is a sugar) isn’t available for energy, our body uses fatty acids as an alternative to fuel our cells (1).
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What are Omega-3 Fatty Acids?
Omega-3 fatty acids are chemical structures that has a position of the final double bond (three carbon atoms from the “omega”) in the tail end of the molecular chain.
Known as polyunsaturated fats (poly means “many” and unsaturated means “double bonds”), our bodies can’t make its own Omega-3, hence it is called as “essential fats“. This means that you can only get them from foods in your diet.
The most common Omega-3 fatty acids include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
Eicosapentaenoic acid is known to help alleviate depressive tendencies and symptoms (2). Docosahexaenoic acid helps in brain development and function (3), and alpha-linolenic acid helps improve heart, immunity and nervous system (4).
Some of the common food sources (5) of omega-3 fatty acid include the following:
- Fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring and sardines)
- Nuts and seeds (flaxseed, chia seeds and walnuts)
- Plant oils (flaxseed oil, soybean oil, and canola oil)
- Fortified foods (certain brands of eggs, juices, milk, soy beverages and many others)
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Health Benefits
Polyunsaturated fats are quite known for its health-enhancing properties and there’s a lot to brag about.
First off, omega-3 is proven to help improve cardiovascular health. According to experts, this fatty acid helps lower blood pressure levels, lowers bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels (6).
Next is omega-3’s ability to improve your brain performance while reducing your risk of developing brain-related diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, psychosis and depression (7).
There is also reports that omega-3 fatty acids helps decrease the amount of fat in the liver. So if you are suffering from fatty liver, then eating fatty fish may help (8).
Omega-3 fatty acids also have anti-inflammatory properties (9) as research suggests that it can help lower inflammation in people suffering from anxiety.
What are Omega-6 Fatty Acids?
Like the previous one, omega-6 fatty acids are similarly healthy fats that are found in vegetable oils like corn, safflower oil and soybean oil. This type of fatty acid is unsaturated fat.
There are four commonly mentioned types of omega-6 fatty acids – linoleic acid (LA), arachidonic acid (ARA), gamma linoleic (GLA), and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is the most popular among dieters due to its alleged weight loss effects (10).
Linoleic acid is the most common type of omega-6 fatty acid. Omega-6 fatty acids plays an essential role in improving immunity and promotes blood clotting. It also plays a big role in gene regulation.
Possible Health Concerns with Omega-6
Experts suggests that not having enough omega-6 fatty acids can effect the functions of cells negatively. And too much of this fat can change the way cells react and can also lead to harmful effects on cells in the heart and blood vessels (11).
Plus, omega-6 arachidonic acid (ARA) produces eicosanoids, which should have provide anti-inflammatory properties like EPA above.
However, the eicosanoids that ARA produces are known to promote inflammation especially when the body produces excess amounts of eicosanoids (12).
What are Omega-9 Fatty Acids?
Known as “monounsaturated fat“, omega-9 fatty acids are from a group of unsaturated fats that are found in vegetables and animal fats, and have one double bond.
Unlike omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, omega-9 are produced by the body and can also be beneficial if obtained moderately in foods. So it is not entirely an essential fatty acid.
Fatty foods that contain omega-9 fatty acids include nut oils (cashews, peanut, walnuts, almonds), olive oil, sunflower, avocado oil, and canola oil.
What are the Possible Health Benefits of Omega-9 Fatty Acids?
Omega-9 fatty acids are proven to promote dozens of health-enhancing effects.
According to this study (13), consuming enough omega-9 fatty acids have been shown to increase good cholesterol while decreasing bad cholesterol (LDL). This helps flush out plaque build-up in the arteries which causes heart attack and stroke.
Conclusion
We now know that omega 3, 6 and 9 are all good for our health. However, it is still important to have balance consumption of foods that contain these three fatty acids.
According to experts, you should consumer a suitable proportion of omega-3,6 and 9, like 2-to-1-to-1, to get more positive effects.
Of course, too much intake of any of these fatty acids will give negative impact on your health. So make sure that you limit your omega-6 intake especially those vegetable oils and fried foods that are readily available commercially.
If you want to have a daily dose of healthy fats, then I suggest you also take omega-3 fatty acid supplements. Click here to search for the best fatty acid supplements.
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References:
Essential Fatty Acids
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/essential-fatty-acids
EPA but Not DHA aPpears to be Responsible for the Efficacy of Omega-3 Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation in Depression: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
by: Julian G Martins
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20439549/
Docosahexaenoic Acid
by: Caroline Richard
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5105042/
Alpha-Linolenic Acid: An Omega-3 Fatty Acid with Neuroprotective Properties – Ready for Use in the Stroke Clinic?
by: Nicolas Biondeau, Robert H Lipsky, Miled Bourourou, Mark W Duncan, Philip B Gorelick, and Ann M Marini
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4350958/
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcids-Consumer/
Effect of Fish Oil Supplementation on Serum Triglycerides, LDL Cholesterol and LDL Subfractions in Hypertriglyceridemic Adults
by: B Oelrich, A Dewell, and C D Gardner
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21924882/
Depression in Parkinson’s Disease: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation
by: Ticyana Moralez Da Silva, Renato Puppi Munhoz, Cristiano Alvarez, Katya Naiwaiko, Agata Kiss, Roberto Andreatini, and Anete Curte Ferraz
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18485485/
Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Meta-Analysis
by: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/grp/2016/1459790/
Omega-3 Supplementation Lowers Inflammation and Anxiety in Medical Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial
by: Janice K Kiecolt-Glaser, Martha A Belury, Rebecca Andridge, William B Malarkey, and Ronald Glaser
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3191260/
Efficacy of Conjugated Linoleic Acid for Reducing Fat Mass: A Meta-Analysis in Humans
by: Leah D Whigham, Abigail C Watras, and Dale A Schoeller
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17490954/
Health Implications of High Dietary Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids
by: E Patterson, R Wall, G F Fitzgerald, R O Ross, and C Stanton
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3335257/
Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Inflammatory Process: Effects, Mechanisms and Clinical Relevance
by: Philip C Calder
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25149823/
Impact of Omega-3 and Omega-9 Fatty Acids Enriched Total Parenteral Nutrition on Blood Chemistry and Inflammatory Markers in Septic Patients
by: Gamze Gultekin, Habibe Sahin, Neriman Inanc, Fatma Uyanik, and Engin Ok
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3998998/
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