{"id":15324,"date":"2009-12-30T01:00:13","date_gmt":"2009-12-30T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=15324"},"modified":"2009-12-23T17:23:16","modified_gmt":"2009-12-23T22:23:16","slug":"benefits-of-omega-3-and-omega-6-fatty-acids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/benefits-of-omega-3-and-omega-6-fatty-acids\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids"},"content":{"rendered":"

While both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids belong to what’s called polyunsaturated fats, they have distinct differences. They are both referred to as “essential” because they are a necessary part of sustaining a healthy body. The importance is underlined by the fact that our bodies cannot make them, so we must get them through dietary means.\"salmon<\/a><\/p>\n

Omega-3s<\/a> get most of the press, particularly for their anti-inflammatory and heart disease prevention benefits. Additional benefits include improving arthritis, preventing cancer, and improving your skin’s condition.<\/p>\n

Like an infomercial… but wait, there’s more! Omega-3s improve eye health, and benefit brain function, improving mood and memory.<\/p>\n

Dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids include fish, such as salmon, rainbow trout, black cod, and sardines. If you are a vegetarian, don’t like fish, or just want to mix it up, walnuts, flaxseeds, beans, and winter squash are a few examples of of plant-based omega-3 sources.<\/p>\n

The role of omega-6 fatty acids<\/a> is a little more complicated.<\/p>\n

Omega-6 is an important part of a healthy diet, having similar benefits as omega-3. Clinical studies have shown that omega-6 helps reduce arthritis pain, clear acne, and aid in cancer treatment. But, too much omega-6 can cause problems, including inflammation, heart attacks, thrombotic stroke, arrhythmia, arthritis, osteoporosis, mood disorders, obesity, and cancer. The trick is to strike a balance.<\/p>\n

Omega-6 deficiency is very rare in the U.S. The American diet<\/a> typically contains more than 10 times the needed amount of omega-6. That’s because it comprises the primary oil ingredient that is added to most processed foods, and we all know that processed foods are in abundance in our diets.<\/p>\n

While this balancing act may seem complicated, it ultimately boils down to the basics of healthy eating: minimize processed foods, and include ample servings of fish in your diet (2-3 times a week), and\/or plant-sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. It’s essential to your health.<\/p>\n

(Source: University of Maryland Medical Center<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids belong to what’s called polyunsaturated fats, they have distinct differences. They are both referred to as “essential” because they are a necessary part of sustaining a healthy body. The importance is underlined by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695,804],"tags":[2712,29,3624,361],"class_list":["post-15324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","category-heart-disease","tag-inflammation","tag-nutrition","tag-omega-6","tag-omega-3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15324"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15331,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15324\/revisions\/15331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}