Fat is made up of fatty acids. Fatty acids are chains of carbon atoms (usually 16-20 carbon atoms long) which can either be saturated with hydrogen atoms (the saturated fatty acids normally found in animal fats) or contain relatively fewer hydrogen atoms (the unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids commonly found in vegetable fats and oils). At one end of the chain is an acid group. Although this fatty acid configuration may seem straightforward, prospective changes in its structure can lead to a huge difference set of entities that perform quite varying roles in the body. It is therefore more accurate to describe fats as those which contain fatty acids, and it is the fatty acids that can be saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated.

Fatty acids are important building blocks for vital functions in the body. They perform a variety of specific and essential functions. First, fatty acids form an integral component of the plasma membrane of every cell in the body. This membrane is the shell around a cell and protects the cell. The membrane of a cell is a very active location because signals from outside the cell are directed to the cell at its surface where numerous receptors and transport pumps are situated. The composition of the cell membrane in terms of the fatty acids that make up the membrane are known to affect the quality and degree of signaling across the membrane. This function is crucial since cellular responses to hormones, uptake of nutrients, and discharge of waste all require activity at the membrane. Vital transport pumps located at the cell membrane include the sodium/potassium and calcium/magnesium pump. Unhealthy cell membrane leads to a pump breakdown, cellular dysfunction, and eventual cell death.

Our bodies cannot make all fats we need. There is a subset of dietary fatty acids known as essential fatty acids (EFAs) which are essential for normal body function but that cannot be made endogenously and must be consumed.

EFAs are vital for a healthy immune system. EFAs also assist the body in disintegrating SFA and helping the body to get rid of it. Moreover, EFAs also adjust cholesterol metabolism rate.

The two most important group of EFA is called omega-6 (N6 EFA) omega-3 (N3 EFA). Both come from consumption of PUFA and MUFA.

Omega-6 (N6) EFA is found in safflower, sunflower, corn, and evening primrose oils. There are many subgroups within this family of EFA. The primary head of the N6 EFAs family is Linoleic acid. Other sub-divisions to this similar category are GLA and ARA.

Omega 3 (N3) EFA is derived from olive, flaxseeds, walnuts, soybeans, and freshly ground wheat germ. These are sold in most health food stores. The chief of the N3 EFA family is Linolenic acid (ALA).

These two groups are also not inter-convertible with each other once inside our body.

Unfortunately, more than 50 percent of the population is not getting enough N3 EFAs and may have a N3 EFA defficiency. N3 EFA is critical for eye, brain, and neurological function. Deficiencies of N3 EFAs can cause impaired brain function and decreased IQ. N3 EFAs is also a blood thinner that prevents platelet aggregation and strokes. Too much of anything is generally not good. Excessive N3 EFAs worsen diabetes and bleeding.

N6 EFA is also important. It plays a major role in the texture and appearance of the skin and blood vessel structure. N6 EFA deficiency has a negative effect on the circulatory system. Symptoms include increased triglyceride, cholesterol, and blood pressure; hardening and obstruction of arteries; abnormal hair loss; increased urination; and skin disorders.

EFAs can be found in many vegetables such as soybean, flax, walnuts, and green leafy vegetables. The average adult requires 0.3 gram per kg ideal body weight per day. This translates into 20 grams for the average 70 kg adult. Fish is a good source of N3 EFAs. Poultry, eggs, and lean meat contain both N6 and N3 sub-fractions such as GLA, ARA, EPA, and DHA.

Certain fish in particular are very rich in EFAs. Sardines (about 3.3 grams of N3 EFA in three ounces) and mackerel (2.5 grams per 3 ounces) are good examples. For non-fish eaters, marine plants like seaweed also supply N3s, and health food stores carry oil supplements rich in N3. Many are not used to taking fish oil, which in high amounts, can cause a fishy “burp.” Because they're highly unsaturated (more so even than other polyunsaturated fats), N3s are very susceptible to oxidation and turn rancid rapidly, a metamorphosis that undermines their value to cell membranes. For that reason, fish oil supplementation should be accompanied by fat-soluble antioxidant vitamin E. Store your oils in the fridge as well as in opaque bottles will also slow down the oxidative process.

Consuming an adequate amount of fish (8 to 10 ounces a week) is the easiest way to prevent any EFA deficiencies.

The amount of N6 EFA and N3 EFA in food depends on the kind of PUFA taken in and varies greatly depending from food to food. It is now known that the ratio of N6 to N3 EFA is a more important indicator of optimum health than the absolute amount of PUFA intake. This is similar to cholesterol, where the ratio of HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol to total serum cholesterol is more important than the serum cholesterol level itself as predictor of cardiovascular heath.

The ratio of N6 to N3 EFA is crucial for anti-aging. The traditional hunting diet of our ancestors consisting of lean meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds maintained a N6 to N3 ratio of 4:1. The optimal N6 to N3 EFA ratio should be close to this according to many in anti-aging research. The modern day processed food diet using processed PUFA and trans fat has far more N6 than N3 EPA. The dietary problem stems not just from the vegetable oils we eat, which are rich in N6, but also in today's commercially raised and prepared eggs and meat, which contain a lower percentage of N3 than they once did. Consequently our diets contain a lopsided ratio of N6 to N3 that is estimated to be 20 or more to 1. It may be interesting to note that organic free-range eggs (eggs from chicken fed organic food and run free) have a N6 to N3 EFA ratio of close to 1 to 1, while eggs from commercial chicken farms have a N6 to N3 EFA ratio of 19 to1. Many studies have linked low levels of N3 fatty acids in the blood with depression, attention deficit disorder, and cardiovascular diseases.

Having a rich amount of N3 EFA as part of the PUFA, cold-water fish like salmon may be considered one of the finest foods in an anti-aging diet. In the famous Diet and Reinfarction Trial (also known as the DART trial), it was shown that 300 grams (10 ounces) of fatty fish every week (comparable to 2-3 grams of EPA, the breakdown product of N3) could lower post myocardial infarction mortality by 29% when compared to controls. In fact, the control group was on a standard fat reduction diet, which on the average had lower cholesterol levels than the subject group.

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