Essential Fatty Acids

See also :

• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA)
• Omega-6 fatty acids
• Linoleic Acid

Essential fatty acids are, as they sound, fats that are necessary within the human body. Though you've probably often heard the word "fats" and associated it with bad health, there are some essential fatty acids that are necessary for your survival. Without them, you could cause serious damage to different systems within the body. However, essential fatty acids are also not usually produced naturally within the body. This means that you have to obtain essential fatty acids by adding them to your diet. There are two basic types of essential fatty acids:

• Omega-3 fatty acids : Parent Omega 3 is Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA). Your body makes this into EPA and DHA as needed. About 95% of these EFA’s stay in the “parent” form in your cells. The other 5% are naturally converted into biochemicals called “derivatives.” They include the omega-3s EPA and DHA found in fish oil. So in reality, fish oil contains limited parent essential oils. Omega-3 serves a variety of purposes within the body. First, it helps your organs to function properly and also aids in cell activity within your body. Omega-3 essential fatty acids also help cell walls to form and helps oxygen circulation throughout the body. They also work with red blood cells to make sure they are doing their job.A lack of Omega-3 essential fatty acids could lead to blood clots, problems with memory, a decreased sense of vision, irregular heartbeat and a decrease in the functioning of your immune system. In order to be sure you're getting enough Omega-3 essential fatty acids in your diet, try including more foods including flaxseed oil into your diet. Walnuts, sesame seeds, spinach, salmon and albacore tuna are some other foods that will help increase your Omega-3 levels.
• Omega-6 fatty acids : Parent Omega 6 is Linoleic Acid. Your body converts this into Gamma-linolenic acid GLA and other compounds. Omega-6 essential fatty acids help the body cure skin diseases, fight cancer cells and treat arthritis. However, the tricky thing with Omega-6 essential fatty acids is that most people do get enough in their diet, but they ruin it by eating foods that are high in sugar and trans fats. These factors lower the Omega-6 levels in the human body and actually do harm to you even if you are getting the right amount of Omega-6 essential fatty acids in your diet. If you're not getting enough, though, try to include flaxseed oil, pistachios, chicken and olive oil into your diet to raise your Omega-6 levels.

The benefits of Essential Fatty Acids are

• Membrane Structure and Function : Omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA are important structural components of cell membranes. When incorporated into phospholipids, they affect cell membrane properties such as fluidity, flexibility, permeability and the activity of membrane bound enzymes. DHA is selectively incorporated into retinal cell membranes and postsynaptic neuronal cell membranes, suggesting it plays important roles in vision and nervous system function.
• Vision : DHA is found at very high concentrations in the cell membranes of the retina; the retina conserves and recycles DHA even when omega-3 fatty acid intake is low. Animal studies indicate that DHA is required for the normal development and function of the retina. Moreover, these studies suggest that there is a critical period during retinal development when inadequate DHA will result in permanent abnormalities in retinal function. Recent research indicates that DHA plays an important role in the regeneration of the visual pigment rhodopsin, which plays a critical role in the visual transduction system that converts light hitting the retina to visual images in the brain.
• Nervous System : The phospholipids of the brain's gray matter contain high proportions of DHA and AA, suggesting they are important to central nervous system function. Brain DHA content may be particularly important, since animal studies have shown that depletion of DHA in the brain can result in learning deficits. It is not clear how DHA affects brain function, but changes in DHA content of neuronal cell membranes could alter the function of ion channels or membrane-associated receptors, as well as the availability of neurotransmitters.
• Eicosanoid Synthesis : Eicosanoids, derived from 20-carbon PUFA, are potent chemical messengers that play critical roles in immune and inflammatory responses. During an inflammatory response, DGLA, AA, and EPA in cell membranes can be metabolized by enzymes known as cyclooxygenases and lipoxygenases to form prostaglandins and leukotrienes, respectively. In those who consume typical Western diets, the amount of AA in cell membranes is much greater than the amount of EPA, resulting in the formation of more eicosanoids derived from AA than EPA. However, increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake increases the EPA content of cell membranes, resulting in higher proportions of eicosanoids derived from EPA. Physiological responses to AA-derived eicosanoids differ from responses to EPA-derived eicosanoids. In general, eicosanoids derived from EPA are less potent inducers of inflammation, blood vessel constriction, and coagulation than eicosanoids derived from AA.
• Regulation of Gene Expression : The results of cell culture and animal studies indicate that omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids can modulate the expression of a number of genes, including those involved with fatty acid metabolism and inflammation. Although the mechanisms require further clarification, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids may regulate gene expression by interacting with specific transcription factors, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and liver X receptors (LXRs). Multiple mechanisms are involved in these regulatory schemes. In many cases, PUFA act like hydrophobic hormones (e.g., steroid hormones) to control gene expression. In this case, PUFA bind directly to receptors like PPARs. These receptors bind to the promoters of genes and function to increase/decrease transcription of genes. In other cases, PUFA regulate the abundance of transcription factors inside the cell's nucleus. For these factors, the mechanism for PUFA control is less clear. Two examples include NFκB and SREBP-1. NFκB is a transcription factor involved in regulating the expression of multiple genes involved in inflammation. Omega-3 PUFA suppress NFκB nuclear content thus inhibiting the production of inflammatory eicosanoids and cytokines. SREBP-1, is a major transcription factor controlling fatty acid synthesis, both de novo lipogenesis and PUFA synthesis. Dietary PUFA can suppress SREBP-1, which decreases the expression of enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis and PUFA synthesis. In this way, dietary PUFA function as feedback inhibitors of all fatty acid synthesis.
• Essential Fatty Acids and the sun : Many people are aware of the connection between vitamin D and the sun; however, what many people aren't aware of is that the heath benefits of EFAs and sunlight go hand-in-hand. Dr. Johana Budwig, seven-time Nobel Prize nominee and pioneer in Essential Fatty Acid research, says the sun's rays are very much in harmony with humans.Budwig reported positive results in healing heart disease, arthritis, cancer and other common diseases with massive doses of EFAs. Budwig believed in the EFA-sun connection so strongly that she would have her patients lie in the sun after consuming large doses of EFAs. Not surprisingly, the patients reported feeling rejuvenated.