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| Children are especially vulnerable to damage from low fat diets. Vitamins are required in very small amounts (a few mg per day) whereas EFAs are macronutrients, necessary in grams per day. Omega-6 And Omega-3 EFAs Many standard texts on nutrition suggest three EFAs: linoleic, linolenic, and arachidonic acids. In such situations, oil containing omega-6 derivatives can help. The change is slow and requires about 10 months of supplementation. EFAs absorb sunlight, increasing their ability to react with oxygen by about 1,000-fold and making them very active chemically. EFA molecules carry slight negative charges that cause them to repel one another. EFAs form associations with the sulfhydryl group (cysteine) in proteins, important in reactions that make possible the one-way movement of electrons and energy on which life depends. EFAs play a role in every life process in our body and life without them is impossible. Obese people and those eating hard fats, sugar and trans-fatty acids require more. People with degenerative disease average only about 8% of their body fat as LA. LNA requires the same antioxidants, minerals and vitamins necessary for LA functions. There is now an algae-derived oil (click here for details) that has both DHA and EPA, suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Hemp seed oil has a remarkable fatty acid profile, being high in the desirable omega-3s and also delivering some GLA, which is absent from the fats we normally eat. A tablespoon of flax seed has about 7.5gm of the short chain omega-3 which would be converted by the body to about 750mg of the long chained EPA and DHA. A tablespoon of hemp oil has about 2.5gm ALA (or 250mg of EPA and DHA). A tablespoon of fish oil, on the other hand, has about 12,000mg of EPA and DHA. Since the informal NIH recommendations are for 660mg of the long chained omega-3s, the recommended daily intake would be the equivalent of about: 1 tablespoon of flax == 3 tablespoons of flax seed == 3 tablespoons of hemp oil == 4 tablespoons of canola oil == 1/4 teaspoon of fish oil. |