Dietary Fats & Oils

Fats and Oils Essential to Good Health
Fatty acids play an essential role in human nutrition. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are required for proper growth and metabolism. They are just as necessary for good health as vitamins and minerals. Nutritional science currently recognizes two kinds of EFAs, omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. The primary omega-3 is alpha linoleic acid (ALA), which can be found in plant foods ranging from walnuts to hemp to perilla to chia to flax. The main thing Omega-3 does is help regulate cell membrane permeability Omega-6 fatty acids such as linoleic acid are the source material that the body uses to make two essential substances, arachidonic acid (AA) and gamma linolenic acid (GLA). AA and GLA help to regulate growth and inflammation.