Many nutritionists and natural health practitioners would agree that the American population is overfed (in calories, refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, and omega-6 oils) and under-nourished (in pure water, vitamins, minerals, cofactors, and fiber). The eating habits of most people leave them in a state of essential fatty acid deficiency.
Imagine the impact of a shift in dietary patterns so rapid and radical that it adversely affects thousands of bodily metabolic functions simultaneously. Perhaps a worldwide famine, global water or atmospheric pollution and/or radiation could pose such a threat by contaminating or robbing our food of nutrients. The fact of the matter is the scenario given here is not hypothetical, but exists here and now. Though not as obvious as a global catastrophe, the true cause is much more insidious and began with the industrial revolution and the processing of foodstuffs to facilitate national and global transportation, packaging, and stability.
Throughout human history, men and women have ingested an approximate equal proportion (1/1 ratio) of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. The omegas 6 and 3 are two of forty-nine known essential nutrients. As essential nutrients they cannot be synthesized by the body, but must be ingested directly in foods or in the form of dietary supplements.
The relationship of equivalence between the two omegas is critical because they balance each other to regulate thousands of metabolic functions through biochemical pathways.
Nearly every biologic function is somehow interconnected with the delicate balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. As I mentioned, the omega-3s are intimately involved in the control of inflammation, cardiovascular health, myelin sheath development, allergic reactivity, immune response, hormone modulation, IQ, and behavior. A seemingly minor, yet major change in omega balance dictated by dietary ingestion has absolutely deleterious health effects. The rapid change in dietary fat ingestion within only the last 50 to 100 years has bewildered human bio-physiology created to function optimally on equal proportions of polyunsaturated fats.
Diets that provide omega-6 oils at the expense of omega-3s stimulate pro-inflammatory pathways in the body. Omega-3s, on the other hand, stimulate non-inflammatory pathways. As a result, omega-6s have been coined as "bad" and omega-3s as "good." In fact, both are essential for human health and it is the balance of the two in relation to each other that is important. Dominant omega-6s in the body can create a situation that promotes chronic inflammation, propagation of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and auto-immunity disorders.
FREE! Software to Choose Foods from the National Instiute of Health
A free interactive computer-aided personal food choice program called KIM-2 ( Keep It Managed, ver.2) contains eicosanoid-related data with the omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid contents of over 9,000 food servings . KIM sorts and identifies foods with relatively high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids that help produce desired tissue fatty acid compositions as estimated from published metabolic data.
With high-speed, broadband connections, it takes about 5 minutes to download and install (50 minutes on slower modems). KIM contains short tutorial segments on how to use the software and interpret polyunsaturated levels in tissues, and is accompanied by un-install icon to simplify its removal at your option.
