Good fats and bad fats - Om3 vs Om6 ratio

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Good Fats and Bad Fats - It’s all about ratio

I found this very helpful and hope you do too - notes taken from the research are an aid memoir

BBC Radio 4 - Case Notes – Wed 15 Sept 2010
Dr Mark Porter investigates how good and bad fats have an impact on our health.

bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tpt0b


Points taken from the programme:

- Not all fats are bad – it’s the type of fat that matters
- Good fats – Omega 3 – (EPA and DHA) Green veg and oily fish (not cod liver) crucial for good health
- Saturated fat – animal fats, meat and dairy, coconut and palm – solid at room temperature. These are only bad in excess of the RDA: 20 grams a day.
- Unsaturated fats – liquid seed oils only bad in excess of the RDA: 70g and optimum Om6 vs 3 ratio
- Bad fats: Man made toxic fats, trans-fats, hidden in processed food including low fat spreads.
- Trans-fats are synthetic fats that preserve shelf life in food and cause premature furring of the arteries
- In addition to other fats the average Briton is eating between 2 – 20g of trans-fats a day
- 20 grams of trans-fat a day more than doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease: heart, stroke, Lewy body dementia, vascular and arteria-sclerotic dementia; the second most common types of dementia.
- Trans-fats upset the liver; disrupt the balance of good cholesterol (HDL) and bad (LDL) and cause a build-up of plaques on the artery walls.
- Trans-fats are mostly hidden but on food labels are called:

1. Hydrogenated vegetable oil (Good unsaturated fats that have been Hydrogenated)
2. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
3. Vegetable shortening
4. Margarine

- There are two types of Omega 3 fatty acid – both of which are essential for all normal cell function and have long term implications especially for brain and eye development in pregnancy and breast feeding.

1. Marine – DHA and EPA from which we evolved; essential, especially for the brain and visual system.
2. Land – or ALA from Seeds nuts, green leafy veg, butternut squash, soya beans, tofu, strawberry etc.

- Optimum Ratio: The Omega 3 vs 6 ratio profoundly influences health especially inflammatory diseases including arthritis and those affecting the brain and heart. For long term health, our diet should have a balanced Omega 3 v 6 ratio. Humans evolved eating a diet with the ratio of Om 3 to Om 6 balanced at about 50/50 or at most, in favour of Om6 by 4 to 1. Today and at best, the British diet has a ratio in favour of Om 6 by 10 to 1 with an average at 20 to 1 and in many cases 100 to 1.

- Omega 3 supplements can’t help if you are eating too much Omega 6 or bad fats with them; it’s ratio that counts; this is why:

- Fatty acids compete for the same enzymes in the body and because these enzymes can’t differentiate between Om 3 and 6, they will use either. These enzymes turn fatty acid into derivatives that have influence over the immune system, blood flow and hormones, including insulin. However, if these derivatives have been converted from Omega 6, they can make the blood sticky and more likely to clot and will tend to be pro-inflammatory and, pro-thrombotic and whereas the very same enzyme using an Omega 3 fatty acid will have an effect that is anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic

Summary:
- In the effort to move away from too much saturated fat, modern diets now contain too much Omega 6 (as well as trans-fats and sugar – a highly toxic combination)

- Omega 6 is essential but unavoidable. It is in vegetable oils such as corn, sunflower and safflower and most processed food as well as in its pure state found in seeds and nuts such as soya, meat, dairy and eggs. But we simply have too much of it and nowhere near enough Omega 3.

Conclusion:
- Avoid trans-fats and use cold pressed cooking oils such as olive and rapeseed
- Cut down on Omega 6: seed oils, meat, eggs and dairy
- Have two portions of Marine Om3 per week (oily fish) not more if pregnant due to ocean contaminants
- Make up the ratio with Land Omega 3 found in green leafy veg and so on.
- Eat fresh fruit daily as micronutrients in them facilitate the absorption of Omega 3.
- Look after your liver: Lemon water in morning (cleansing) – 3 alcohol free days a week (repair days)

Cooking oils and fats:

1. Omega 6 v 3 ratio in oils and other nutritional values
theconsciouslife.com/omega-3-6-9-ratio-cooking-oils.htm

2. Oil amounts converter
traditionaloven.com/foods/multi-units-converter/oil-sunflower-linoleic-less-than-sixty-pct.html

3. Fats explained – British Heart Foundation
bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating/saturated-fat.aspx