Unsaturated fatty acids are essential to health.  These important fatty acids cannot be manufactured by the body, but rather must be supplied in the diet. 

Because this can be such a complicated subject due to the intricacies of the many fatty acid pathways I am going to try approaching the subject from the important final product of fatty acid breakdown.  Good fats come from essential fatty acids (EFA’s) and support our Pg1 and Pg3 series of vasodialating non-inflammatory prostaglandins. 

Biological Glue

The EFA’s are like biological glue that holds together the systems ultimate function at the cellular level and they are controlled completely by the diet.  Dr. Barry Sears in his writings like “The Zone” puts great emphasis on the value of EFA’s to a healthy system.  If we are not getting enough essential fatty acid (Omega 3 and Omega 6) the system suffers an array of possible illnesses.  EFA’s control and direct regulation of physiological functions like the immune system, blood pressure, nervous system, inflammation, blood clotting, and hormone regulation.  The pathway that inhibits the benefits of essential fatty acids is triggered by Arachidonic acid pathway found in meat and dairy, especially organ meat, egg yolks and red meat according to Dr. Sears.

Sources of Essential Fatty Acids

Good sources of important essential fatty acids are Flax oil, Black current seed oil, walnut oil, and EPA/DHA or fish oil.  Some of the uses for the EFA’s are: Allergies, ADHD, Arthritis, Asthma, Autoimmune disorders, Fetal alcohol syndrome prevention, Fibrocystic breast disease, Heart disease, Hypertension, Immune disorders, Inflammation, Neonatal development, Peripheral neuropathy, Skin conditions (eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis), and Ulcerative colitis (crohn’s).

Dosage depends on the situation.

If the disease is acute or sub-acute one can take higher doses through out the day to help reduce the inflammation.  If you have a chronic or degenerative disease several grams a day as maintenance is a good idea.  The message is don’t neglect your good fats if you want optimum health.

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