Essential Fatty Acids (EFA)
The Truth About Fat
Fats are broken down into 3 categories:
- Saturated fats
- Mono-unsaturated fats
- Poly-unsaturated fats (this includes Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids [EFAs])
Let’s take a look at: Poly-Unsaturated Fats, Fatty Acids, and Essential Fatty Acids
The key roles that fat plays in your body are in the breakdown for their fatty acids and in energy.
Fatty acids are vital to your health and well being. Fatty acids are the acids that are produced when fat is broken down. Your body uses fatty acids to perform key functions in your body which involve the brain, eyes, heart, lungs, nerves, skin, hair, digestion, and hormones.
Your body also burns fat for energy. The extra energy that is not burned or used in your body is stored in adipose tissue. Adipose then protects and cushions the organs in your body. The fat that many people dislike on their bodies (in the form of love handles, big thighs, or flabby bellies) is not fat per se, it’s adipose tissue.
The human body can produce all but 2 of the fatty acids it needs. These 2 fatty acids are linoleic acid (LA acid), which is the parent fatty acid to the Omega 6 family) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA acid) which is the parent fatty acid in the Omega 3 family.
Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) . When the word “essential” is used in a nutrition context, it refers to something the body cannot make on its own and must find from outside sources i.e., your diet.
Foods High in Omega 3 include:
- Flax seeds
- Cold water fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel
- Sardines
Foods High in Omega 6 include:
- Sunflower seeds
- Vegetable oils such as corn, sunflower, sesame, soybean, safflower
- Margarine
- Pumpkin seeds
And there are Essential Fatty Acid Supplements in pill form to supplement your diet. Click here for information on Lovaza, a prescription Omega-3 Supplement.
