Second half of "Essential Fatty Acids: Essential To Losing Weight?"
Now that we’ve decided that there are some essential, or healthy fats, we need to discuss the ins and outs of said fats. Chief among the healthy fats are the “omegas”. Being the most studied and charted healthy fats, the omegas are a family of essential fatty acids that include omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9. What the omegas do is to aid in the healthy function of your body’s reproductive, cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems. What a great helper! The key concept here though to remember is that your body doesn’t produce by itself the omega-3, and the good omega-6 fatty acids. Because they are not readily found, these fantastically healthy supplements must needs be taken through some sort of supplementation to your regular healthy diet. Couple these great essential fatty acids with a healthy diet and a good workout and you’ll be shedding unwanted pounds in no time!
Something else that omega-3s have been shown to do is that they have therapeutic effects. These effects reduce triglycerides which in turn lower the effects of hypertension. They also help to regulate irregular heart beat, aid those with various learning disabilities, as well as give comfort to those with menopausal discomforts. The most overwhelming evidence comes from the fantastic ability the omegas have in improving diabetic neuropathy, PMS, skin disorders, and even rheumatoid arthritis.
The omega-9s also play a very big role in the healthy fats group. Although the omega-9 is not considered essential, they provide significant health benefits. These benefits make it a must to use in conjunction with healthy diet and a good exercise routine. In fact monounsaturated oleic acid plays a very important role in helping lower the risk of heart disease, as well as protecting arterial cholesterol buildup.
The principal essential fatty acid in the omega-3 family is the Alpha linolenic acid. Normally with a healthy body the alpha linolenic acid there are various metabolic conversions that take place. This happens during the raw transfer of dietary materials into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) which later is transferred into docosahexaenoic acid or the easier pronounced name DHA. The omega-6 linoleic acid then converts to gamma linolenic acid, or GLA. The GLA and the EPA synthesized from dietary sources undergo yet another conversion which makes the biochemical compounds know as eicosanoids. The beauty of these is that they are healthy for almost every body activity that you can think of, including the minute intracellular processes all the way to the grand functioning of the vital organs. They are that wonderful!
Many would say that we get to much omega-6 but this is not the case at all. While it is true we should focus on the omega-3s, we should also never forget about the very important omega-6s. The reason for this is because the bodily process of converting linoleic acid to the beneficial GLA doesn’t quite happen like we think it should. For this reason we supplement our diets.
What keep the aforementioned process from happening is not very simple. Things like pollution, stress, aging, viral infections, smoking, and conditions such as diabetes can all get in the way of completing the process. Current research also shows that diets that are high in trans fats (processed foods) as well as those that are high in sugar and alcohol, tend to block the critical process of creating the important GLA. This is noteworthy because a very large majority of Americans eat the types of foods that impede the production of GLA. It would not be a stretch to say that the majority of Americans are lacking in the important GLA, despite the fact that we get lots of omega-6 linoleic acid. How to we fix this? Well the first thing is to stop eating foods that are highly processed such as margarine. Second, and one of the most important things in this article is that we can start taking enough omega-3 which will help convert the omega-6 better. Not that bad huh!
After all is said and done the best suggestion is to eat as healthy as you can, make sure you get some exercise, and supplement your diet with the needed ingredients, such as essential fatty acids.
For more information regarding quality essential fatty acids, please visit Top Form Essential Fatty Acids.
