Omega 3
Omega 3 is a type of fat that the human body cannot produce on its own, which is why it is called 'essential'. To understand what an Omega 3 is, we need to go over a little bit of chemistry. Fats are made from a long chain of carbon atoms, like this:
These carbon atoms can be joined together with a single bond or a double bond. The double bonds are important, because they cause a bend in the chain, whereas the single bonds are straight.
That means that the mix of single and double bonds creates different shaped fats and our bodies make use of these different shapes to do different things, like make hormones. If there are no double bonds, then this is called a saturated fat, a single double bond is a mono unsaturated fat, and two or more double bonds are poly unsaturated fats.
The name 'omega 3' comes from the fact that the bond between the 3rd and 4th carbon atoms is a double bond.
An Omega 6 oil has a double bond between the 6th and 7th carbon atom.
Omega 6 oils are also essential, but they are also quite plentiful and we tend to get too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3.
- It's believed that we should get a 1:1 ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6, but most people get far too much Omega 6, and very little Omega 3. (Typical Western diets provide ratios of between 10:1 and 30:1.)
- If you feed cows (and other grazing animals) on grass, they have a 1:1 ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 in their milk and meat. However, if you feed them on corn, they have very little Omega 3, which is bad for the cow and bad for us too.
- A lack of Omega 3 and a bad Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio has been linked to health problems, including cardiovascular disease.
- Omega 3 has anti-inflammatory properties, whereas Omega 6 is pro-inflammatory.
- The length of the carbon chain is also significant. Omega 3 oils from plants have shorter chains lengths than from fish or animals.
- Flax seeds are one of the few plant sources that is much higher in Omega 3 than Omega 6.
- Two especially valuable Omega 3 oils are EPA, DHA. These are plentiful in oils from cold water fish such as cod liver oil or from sardines. Free range chickens and chickens fed extra flax seeds cause their eggs to contain more DHA.
- It is believed that only about 5% of the shorter, plant based Omega 3 oils can be converted to the longer chain variants we need.
- A fat and an oil are the same thing, but fats are solid at room temperature while oils are liquid. Typically a fat is saturated and an oil is unsaturated as the double bonds change the melting point.