Omega-6 and Omega-3 Fats for an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

This week's What's That?! Wednesday post focuses it attention to another very important macro-nutrient in the anti-inflammatory diet - fats!  While there are many different types of fats that affect inflammation in many different ways, today we will just be focusing on two fats from the group knows as essential fatty acids or omega fatty acids. You may know these as Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. 

The most important thing to understand first is the word "essential" - this means that your body cannot manufacture these fats on its own, so you have to make sure to eat foods that are good sources of omega fats – they are called essential fatty acids because they are essential to several of your body’s core systems including - immune, metabolic, cardiac, and neurological functions. 

The second super important thing to understand is that you want a “healthy ratio” of the Omega-6 to Omega-3 fats but that BOTH are important and "essential" -  however, there are some sources of Omega-6 fats you will want to avoid all together because they greatly contribute to increased chronic inflammation.

The healthy ratio you want to shoot for is 1:1 to 5:1 range.  To give you a comparison current studies estimate that the average ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids in the typical U.S. diet is somewhere between 20:1 and 50:1.(*) HUGE discrepancy, right? So why is this important? Current research clearly shows that it is this skewed ratio that may be one of the biggest contributing factors to the rising number of autoimmune diseases like morbid obesity, diabetes, fibromyalgia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and more. (*)

Here is a breakdown to help you understand the different types of Omega fats, which ones to avoid completely as well as the healthiest food choices for managing your Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio....

1. Omega-3’s  - are Anti-Inflammatory Fats – they help to reverse an overactive immune system and therefore play an important role in reducing chronic inflammation and it’s physical manifestations. They have also been found to be helpful in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.(*)Remember, you only the get the benefits of these healthy fats if you choose the "healthy or best choice". 
   
   Best choices for Omega-3’s– Ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil (never heated), chia seeds, wild caught fish                  specifically salmon, sardines, cod, scallops, crab, and lobster as well as organic eggs from pastured raised                hens. Make sure to eat the yolks of the eggs - this is where all the Omega-3 fats are! If you are                                  vegetarian/vegan, we also suggest adding a high quality fish oil product like krill oil. 
   
   Worst choices/Avoid for Omega 3’s – farm raised fish and seafood or eggs from conventionally raised,                 grain-fed hens. Unfortunately farm raised fish is high in other things that drive up inflammation, so be sure          to always choose wild caught. You can learn more about this on our blog, Fish Considerations.
   
   
2. Omega-6’s – are Pro-Inflammatory Fats – even though omega-6’s are “pro-inflammatory”, some omega-6 intake is essential and needed to support the nervous system, brain function and memory, as well direct the immune system properly to repair cells that are damaged from injury or invasion. Normal inflammation is the body's appropriate response to real injury or invasion, so you want to support those functions throughout your body. 
   
   HOWEVER, consumption of the wrong sources of Omega-6 fatty acids is a significant contributor to obesity, heart disease, and neurological diseases like depression, bipolar, and Alzheimer’s. (*) Check out our list to help you avoid the “bad omega-6’s” and get your omega-6 from healthier sources:
   
   Best choices for Omega-6’s– Raw almonds, raw almond butter, raw walnuts, hemp seeds, raw pumpkin                 seeds, raw sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Pecans, cashews, and pistachios each also have a good                 amount of healthy Omega 6’s but the ratio is much higher so these are best consumed less often.
   
   ​Worst choices/Avoid for Omega-6’s – Processed and industrial oils including: cottonseed oil, soybeans and           soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, and peanut oil. These oils are used in most all pre-made and               packaged foods as well as abundantly used in restaurants, so ditching processed foods and eating                             home cooked food as often as possible is the best way to avoid these.  

Jennifer and I are not big fans of any diet that omits a macro-nutrient and even though cutting back on fat intake is another popular way to cut calories and lose weight, in the long term metabolic imbalances will halt your weight loss progress. In fact too little fat overall increases cravings for carbs and sugar and makes the body think you are in “famine mode”- which signals your metabolism to increase fat storage. Not cool! Bottom line: You have to eat healthy fats if you want to lose your “unhealthy fat” and reduce your risk of inflammation driven diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and neurological diseases. We recommend 1 serving of healthy fats with EVERY meal. Check out some of our favorite recipes that include healthy Omega fats below...

If eating an Anti-Inflammatory Diet seems overwhelming to you, check out our Anti-Inflammatory Meal Plans that are loaded with simple recipes as well as weekly shopping lists and menus to make anti-inflammatory eating easy!

In good health,
~Billie & Jen

Rosemary-Walnut Chicken Wraps            Herb & Hemp Stuffed Potatoes             Seasonal Veggie & Quinoa Frittatas

Sesame Ginger Salmon

Almond-Seed Crackers

        Walnut Pesto Chicken

References:
*Greenmedinfo.com - http://www.greenmedinfo.com/substance/omega-3-fatty-acids
*Natural Neuroscience -http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v11/n11/abs/nn.2213.html
*WholeHealthResource - http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/09/pracical-approach-to-omega-fats.html
*Biomedicine and Pharacotherapy -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909