You Need an Oil Change!

It has been said that trying to understand nutrition and health without appreciating the significance of balance between Omega3 and Omega6 essential fatty acids is like trying to understand earthquakes without knowledge of plate tectonics or motion without knowledge of physics.

The Omega fatty acids are essential which means that the body can't produce them on it's own. They must come from the food we eat and they must be in balance, much like sodium and potassium.

Science has established that we have caveman guts and that our Paleolithic ancestors consumed a diet which supplied an Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio of between 1:1 and 4:1. Today, say the experts, the typical American diet supplies ratios of between 10:1 and 20: 1.

Why the imbalance and what does it mean? The American diet is askew say the experts because we consume too much polyunsaturated fats found in processed foods and too much fat from the meat we eat. Cheap corn oil is especially pervasive and yields ratios of Omega6 to Omega 3 of 46:1. Other examples include sunflower oil 19:1, peanut oil 29:0, palm oil 46:1 and cottonseed oil of a whopping 259:1. Others are typical.

The problem is that the two fats use the same enzymes to produce their end products. The enzymes are not in limitless supply and the two fats must compete for them. When they are in a ratio of 1:1 or even 4:1, chances are they will each get use of the enzymes they need, But, when the rations are inflated for Omega6s, the real possibilty exists that Omega 3s will get short-changed. Unfortunately, Omega6 acids make both inflammatory and non-inflammatory end products whereas Omega3s don't produce inflammatory end products. Some inflammtion is natural but, because of the overwhelming use of the oils in processed foods, many experts believe that Omega3s are rendered less effective.

The conventional wisdom today urges us to consume more Omega3s. This is a good idea! But, at the same time, we should be urging people to eat more "live" food, fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and low-fat dairy products., and elimate or drastically reduce the consumption of highly processed foods and too much meat.

In her book The Queen of Fats, Susan Allport tells us," If you are eating a typical fast-food diet, your cells will be full of omega-6s. If you are avoiding processed foods and partially hydrogenated fats and eating a lot of greens and fish, your cells wil have a good balance of omega-3s and omega-6s. In the matter of fats, we truly are what we eat and what we eat truly matters."