Why EFA Balance is Critical to Your Health

 

This first part is from Dr Mercola – wonderful newsletters if you are interested in natural foods, medicines etc..

“..Essential fatty acids (EFAs) include both omega-3 fats (high in the vital compounds EPA and DHA) and omega-6 fats. EFAs cannot be manufactured in your body but are beneficial to normal health and metabolism.* Therefore, EFAs must be obtained through your diet.

Although some omega-6 fats are good for your health, the balance of omega-6s to omega-3s is crucial.* Unfortunately, most people consume an overabundance of omega-6 fats.

Your ancestors embraced a diet with a healthy balance of approximately equal omega-6 and omega-3 fats. But the current Western diet is far too high in omega-6 fats. The average omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is now closer to 20:1, and in some cases even 50:1. This can keep you from optimal health.

Due to this imbalanced ratio, and because you could likely benefit from more omega-3 fats*...” Dr Mercola..

I have seen omega 3 oils do amazing things. I use them personally when I am feeling achy or if I feel too wrinkly. The omega 3 component is essential for the lining of all your bodies’ cells, and hence useful as an anti-ageing strategy.

Food sources for omega 3s include the following:

nuts: macademias, almonds, walnuts, pecan nuts,

seeds: chia, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds

deep sea fish: tuna , salmon, sardines, herrings (don’t eat these if you are pregnant though as these fish are the bottom of the food chain which means they are the end results of other fish being consumed and can end up with very large levels of mercury and other toxic minerals)

Plant oils: olive oil, canola, safflower, avocadoes

I try to eat some omega 3 food sources every day. I urge you to do the same

HQ

The two vital facts that are KEY to your health

This is from Dr Mercola…..

I'm sure you've heard by now about two fats in omega-3 oils that are crucial to your health -- DHA and EPA*. These compounds are not only essential to maintaining your health -- scientific research indicates that they may also promote heart health and provide immune system and mood support.*

Now in a perfect world, you would be able to get all the omega-3s you need by eating fish. Unfortunately, studies show that eating fish can potentially expose you to a high degree of contamination with industrial pollutants and toxins like mercury, PCBs, heavy metals and radioactive poisons.

In fact, the FDA and EPA have put out health advisories warning against certain fish and shellfish consumption for young children, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, and nursing mothers.

I formerly recommended that you take fish oil to enhance your intake of omega-3 fats. And high-quality fish oils are certainly great products, with many important health benefits.

But there are drawbacks.

Such as...fish oil is weak in antioxidant content. As you increase your intake of omega-3 essential fatty acids by consuming fish oil, you actually increase your need for even more antioxidant protection.

Why? Well, fish oil is very perishable. Antioxidants are necessary to ensure that the fish oil doesn't oxidize and become rancid inside your body. As we just noted, oxidation leads to the formation of those unhealthy free radicals.

So, you need to consume additional antioxidants for your health in general, and for your increased need for antioxidants when using fish oil.

This was a vexing problem for a long time...

Until the introduction of Antarctic Pure Krill Oil (now known as New and Improved Krill Oil) – a marine oil of krill solved the dilemma by uniquely and synergistically combining antioxidants and omega-3s.

Just what are krill anyway?

Krill are small shrimp or prawn-like creatures that feed the world's most mammoth animals -- the great whales. Toothless great whales gulp down huge quantities of krill to provide the energy they need to fuel their massive bulk. A blue whale eats up to 8,000 pounds of krill each day during feeding season.

Tiny krill fuel giant whales...what can
they do for you?

These highly intelligent great whales aren't the only animals that depend on krill for their nutritional needs. So do seals, penguins, sea birds, squid and fish.

The hardy krill harvested from harsh Antarctic waters -- the ones that comprise our New and Improved Krill Oil -- are so important they are considered a "keystone species", an organism upon which many Antarctic predators depend.

These semi-translucent crustaceans congregate in dense masses or swarms that can turn the ocean's surface pink or red.

Together with plankton, krill make up the largest biomass on earth...one of the most easily renewable food resources available, an excellent nutritional source from an environmental perspective.

Krill aren't a new source of nutrition either. They've been harvested as a food source for both humans and domesticated animals since the 1800s. Possibly even earlier in Japan where they're considered a delicacy.

Dr mercola www.mercola.com