Omega-3 and Omega-6, Finding a Balance

Do you feel that you hear about Omega-3 fatty acids all the time? Do you see DHA and EPA on food and supplement labels? Are you wondering, what's this all about and why should I care?

We're here to help you out and make some sense of this too you. In order to do so, we'd like to start with a discussion on inflammation. Inflammation is an important process which occurs in the body as a response to cell injury. Inflammation happens all throughout the body from our skin to our arteries and organs. Inflammation is visible to you when you get a cut and see redness and swelling occur. This process it critical to us and our ability to heal. The components in our body that are the basis of the inflammation process are created from fatty acids, specifically Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-6 are are pro-inflammatory fatty acids, meaning they promote inflammation, and Omega-3 are anti-inflammatory fatty acids, meaning they reduce inflammation.

Omega-6 fatty acids are found in abundance in our western diet, primarily coming from vegetable and seed oils (soybean, corn and cottonseed oil are the most common). If you go to your pantry and read any food ingredient list and look for those oils, you can see how we consume a tremendous amount of foods rich in Omega-6 fatty acids. On the other hand, Omega-3 fatty acids, found in high amounts in fish, flaxseed and walnuts, are much less frequently consumed in the traditional western diet.

While inflammation is an important process in our bodies, when we consume such high amounts of foods that promote inflammation (Omega-6) and low amounts of food that reduce inflammation (Omega-3), we end up putting our bodies out of balance and in a state of low-grade chronic inflammation. The big diseases of the day, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, are all marked by chronic inflammation. To reduce inflammation is it important for us to strike a balance in our diet between Omega-6 and Omega-3. Finding a balance equips our bodies to keep the inflammatory process in check.

There are some basic things you can do to achieve this balance. The first step is to avoid processed foods as much as possible. As I mentioned earlier, if you look at ingredient listings, you'll see soybean, corn or cottonseed oil in almost every container of processed foods. The more often you can eat whole foods (fruits and vegetables, solid cuts of meat) with minimal processing, the easier it will be for you to avoid consuming large amounts of Omega-6 fatty acids. The second step in achieving a balance would be to increase the amount of Omega-3 containing foods. Salmon, specifically wild caught salmon, is a wonderful source of Omega-3. One 4oz serving of salmon contains your daily requirements for Omega-3. Flaxseed and walnuts are other sources rich in Omega-3.

Help your body achieve the right balance by being aware of the types of foods you are consuming.