No matter how much we struggle with excess calories and do not exclude everything from our diet, even remotely resembling fat, there are special fats for which any woman who wants to preserve youth and beauty of skin and hair will always make an exception. These are polyunsaturated fatty acids, among which acids from the omega-3 and omega-6 families are especially popular.
Fatty acids – they are a kind of building blocks for fats, oils, some waxes. They are a carbon chain with an acidic group at one end. A fatty acid can have one or more free double bonds per molecule, which is why it is called "unsaturated" and can easily form new chemical compounds, or have no free carbon bonds – then it refers to "saturated" fatty acids.
Fatty acids have a naming system that allows you to determine the position and number of free double bonds. The term "omega" indicates that the countdown is not from the acid group and the alpha atom adjacent to it, but from the very end of the carbon chain – from the omega atom. Omega (ω) is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is therefore used in the name of unsaturated fatty acids.
Types of essential fatty acids
There are two particularly well-known families of essential (unsaturated) fatty acids: the ω-3 and ω-6 (their colloquial names are – omega-three and omega-six). They have free carbon double bonds after the third and after the sixth carbon, respectively, as measured from the end of the chain.
Physiologically, it is very important that the body cannot produce double bonds from the third and sixth positions in the fatty acid carbon chain, so omega-3 and omega-6 are essential acids, because they are not produced in the body. In contrast, the omega-9 family of fatty acids can be produced in the body from omega;-3 and omega;-6 acids, and therefore are not essential, that is, irreplaceable.
Each omega family includes several – fatty acids. The best-known omega-9 fatty acid is oleic acid, which is found in large amounts in olive oil. The most important omega-6 fatty acid is linoleic acid. It is found in large quantities in many vegetable oils – especially in sunflower, soybean, safflower, canola oils.
Omega-3 fatty acids are rarely present in our food. The most famous of these is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). It is found in flaxseed oil, as well as in walnut oil and in small amounts in green vegetables.
In addition, omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, but slightly different - not ALA, but eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids, which are much more effective in preventing coronary heart disease, in improving brain function than alpha linolenic acid. The human body can form EPA and DHA from short chains of alpha-linolenic acid, but such a conversion is ineffective: less than 0.1 g of EPA is obtained from 1 g of ALA (moreover, for men it is only 0.05 g, for women a little more). This means that you can not compare the level of omega-3 fatty acids that we get from fish and plants – they are different, and all of them are necessary for the body. It is also important that in the presence of omega-6 fatty acids in the body, the synthesis of omega-3 acids slows down.
The main source of EPA and DHA is oily fish from cold sea waters. It takes omega acids from plankton, which is rich in these substances but lives only in arctic waters. Therefore, freshwater fish (carp, trout), as well as marine fish from warm seas (flounder, pollock, haddock) do not contain omega-3 fatty acids.
The main source of EPA and DHA is oily fish from cold sea waters. Both types of fatty acids – both omega-3 and omega-6 – necessary for a person.
Both types of fatty acids – both omega-3 and omega-6 – are necessary for a person. However, they have different functions for the body – synthesize very important derivatives (eicosanoids) that cannot be interchanged. Thus, it is essential that both families of fatty acids are supplied to the body.
Features of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
Omega-3 fatty acids have long been thought to have a positive effect on blood cholesterol levels. Recent studies show, however, no direct correlation. But it became known that omega;-3 acids help the formation of anti-inflammatory elements that reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease. Eicosanoids, which are formed from omega-3 fatty acids, help reduce blood viscosity, reduce the risk of blood clots, due to their action, blood vessels dilate and blood supply to tissues improves. In addition, omega;-3 acids have a positive effect on the course of other diseases associated with inflammation – for example, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
According to recent studies, DHA accumulates in the membranes of nerve cells and increases membrane fluidity. According to scientists, with age, cell membrane fluidity decreases, and this is affected by an increase in the production of amyloid protein, which, according to some reports, may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Research is currently underway to see if certain doses of DHA can delay Alzheimer's disease at an early stage, or even have a preventive effect on certain diseases of the nervous system.
Omega-6 fatty acids are much more abundant in nature and are obtained from food. They have a large number of double bonds, are easily integrated into cell membranes in many tissues of the body and compete with omega-3 for influence on the same enzyme systems. So, for example, if the amount of omega;-6 significantly exceeds omega;-3 in the body, this can interfere with the conversion of ALA to EPA, which is important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. But with rheumatoid arthritis and some skin diseases, the ratio of omega acids 1: 2 will significantly accelerate the suppression of inflammation. In addition, omega-6 fatty acids are very important for maintaining skin elasticity, smooth hair, maintaining strong nails.
Omega-acids in the daily diet
The German Society for Nutritional Problems (DGE) recommends a daily intake of 1-1.5g of ALA. This can be easily achieved by choosing the right vegetable oil. Regarding DHA and EPA – the optimal level of intake is, according to experts DGE, 0.25 g per day.
The German and American Heart Associations recommend 0.3g DHA/EPA daily for healthy people and 1g DHA/EPA – for those who have already had a heart attack. The latter value can actually only be achieved by regularly consuming oily fish or fish oil capsules.
Today, experts recommend the consumption of vegetable oils high in omega-3 acids (from rapeseed, soy, wheat germ, walnut and linseed oil), while reducing the amount of oil with a high content of ω-6 fatty acids (such as sunflower or safflower) in the diet, as well as regularly eating oily fish – for example salmon, herring and sardines are recommended.
Because omega acids are essential for the body, there are now many foods that are fortified with these substances. This is done either by adding oil to the product (bread/margarine) or by adding dried seaweed or fishmeal to the products.
Of course, supplementing with omega acids like this is important and beneficial, but foods fortified with fatty acids are not as effective as those oils, vegetables or fish that allow the body to directly receive and absorb omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
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