What is the community's opinion on essential fatty acid?

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ijsantos2005
ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I think there is definitely something to be said about eating whatever you want and the effect it has on your Omega-6/Omega-3 balance. Grains and shelf stable food have an extremely high amount of Omega-6 to Omega-3s and can easily tip this balance. Some ratios I've heard were that the standard American has a 16:1 (omega6:omega3) where as we should be closer to 4:1 or lower. What are the facts on this matter?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    If by "eating whatever you want" you're referring to the school of thought that "clean eating" or elimination isn't necessary for successful weight loss, be aware that most (if not all) who advocate for it advocate for it in the context of meeting one's nutritional needs.

    I am an advocate for moderation, but I also stay aware of my omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. The two are perfectly compatible. I eat the foods I like, but I like a lot of things besides grains and shelf-stable foods.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    Honestly that sort of minutiae never even crosses my mind.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Grains aren't typically very fatty...my oatmeal isn't fatty.

    I eat a lot of fish.
  • ijsantos2005
    ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Grains aren't typically very fatty...my oatmeal isn't fatty.

    I eat a lot of fish.

    Fair point, but I wonder how the average persons ratio is so high.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Grains aren't typically very fatty...my oatmeal isn't fatty.

    I eat a lot of fish.

    Fair point, but I wonder how the average persons ratio is so high.

    Many people eat a lot of vegetable oil.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Grains aren't typically very fatty...my oatmeal isn't fatty.

    I eat a lot of fish.

    Fair point, but I wonder how the average persons ratio is so high.

    vegetable oil...fast food....beef and poultry, salad dressings, mayo, etc...and gen pop seems to be not really into eating fish.
  • ijsantos2005
    ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Grains aren't typically very fatty...my oatmeal isn't fatty.

    I eat a lot of fish.

    Fair point, but I wonder how the average persons ratio is so high.

    vegetable oil...fast food....beef and poultry, salad dressings, mayo, etc...and gen pop seems to be not really into eating fish.

    What are the long term effects of a diet high in omega 6 when it comes to health and wellbeing?
  • ijsantos2005
    ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Honestly that sort of minutiae never even crosses my mind.

    Why would you consider this minutiae? Isn't it just as important as macro goals or vitamin and mineral daily goals?
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited April 2017
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    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Grains aren't typically very fatty...my oatmeal isn't fatty.

    I eat a lot of fish.

    Fair point, but I wonder how the average persons ratio is so high.

    The average person isn't here improving their health?

    It's definitely something I keep in mind. I eat a lot of fish relative to other animal protein sources, and I limit refined grains.
  • comeonnow142857
    comeonnow142857 Posts: 310 Member
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    It's good. I either eat fatty fish or fish oil caps from Holland and Barrett. It's not essential for weight loss, but it's not minutiae when it comes to good nutrition.
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
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    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    I think there is definitely something to be said about eating whatever you want and the effect it has on your Omega-6/Omega-3 balance. Grains and shelf stable food have an extremely high amount of Omega-6 to Omega-3s and can easily tip this balance. Some ratios I've heard were that the standard American has a 16:1 (omega6:omega3) where as we should be closer to 4:1 or lower. What are the facts on this matter?

    I would have to google it. It's not something that I, nor probably a lot of people, really think about or care about in the whole scheme of nutrition.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    I wish I had little enough to worry about that this was high on my list of priorities!
  • ijsantos2005
    ijsantos2005 Posts: 306 Member
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    mom22dogs wrote: »
    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    I think there is definitely something to be said about eating whatever you want and the effect it has on your Omega-6/Omega-3 balance. Grains and shelf stable food have an extremely high amount of Omega-6 to Omega-3s and can easily tip this balance. Some ratios I've heard were that the standard American has a 16:1 (omega6:omega3) where as we should be closer to 4:1 or lower. What are the facts on this matter?

    I would have to google it. It's not something that I, nor probably a lot of people, really think about or care about in the whole scheme of nutrition.

    I guess this may be the wrong forum to ask this type of question. I'm just a little surprised that when I did a quick search there was little discussion on this topic. The only ones that I saw were discussing that MFP should have omegas as trackable nutrients. I think when it comes to weight loss, diet, and overall health this should be something of general importance to keep in mind.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    mom22dogs wrote: »
    ijsantos2005 wrote: »
    I think there is definitely something to be said about eating whatever you want and the effect it has on your Omega-6/Omega-3 balance. Grains and shelf stable food have an extremely high amount of Omega-6 to Omega-3s and can easily tip this balance. Some ratios I've heard were that the standard American has a 16:1 (omega6:omega3) where as we should be closer to 4:1 or lower. What are the facts on this matter?

    I would have to google it. It's not something that I, nor probably a lot of people, really think about or care about in the whole scheme of nutrition.

    I guess this may be the wrong forum to ask this type of question. I'm just a little surprised that when I did a quick search there was little discussion on this topic. The only ones that I saw were discussing that MFP should have omegas as trackable nutrients. I think when it comes to weight loss, diet, and overall health this should be something of general importance to keep in mind.

    Why though?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If by "eating whatever you want" you're referring to the school of thought that "clean eating" or elimination isn't necessary for successful weight loss, be aware that most (if not all) who advocate for it advocate for it in the context of meeting one's nutritional needs.

    I am an advocate for moderation, but I also stay aware of my omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. The two are perfectly compatible. I eat the foods I like, but I like a lot of things besides grains and shelf-stable foods.

    This. I don't specifically monitor it except when I was tracking for a while on Cronometer, but I also do a lot of things that improve my ratio (and don't eat a lot of packaged things with fat in them anyway).
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I think the poor o3 to o6 ratio of the SAD diet comes from eating lots of vegetable oil, grainfed rather than grass fed meat, and eating little to no fish. I know so many people who don't eat any fish ever. I eat fish only once a week, so I take a supplement. I know they aren't sure supplements help, but I figure it's better than nothing until I figure out how to get more fish in. I think you can make the case that this ratio being out of whack is one of the primary dangers of the SAD diet, though it's a constantly changing conversation.

    Not everyone thinks about stuff like that, many people here really do just want to lose weight, and often just doing so can improve their health tremendously. I do think there is value in paying Attn to those sorts of details, but not everyone wants to :) It doesn't mean they don't care about their health, just that they picked their battles differently than you did.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,981 Member
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    You can't really track it, because EFAs aren't on food labels -- you'd have to cook exclusively from whole foods and do a lot of research to manually track it yourself.

    I first started tracking on MFP after getting bad bloodwork results, including high overall cholesterol and low HDL, and a better omega-3:o6 ratio can help with both of those. Since you can't track the actual numbers, I just focused on adding and substituting foods with better o3:o6 ratios, like choosing fatty fish, grass-fed beef, and eggs from free-range chicken more often as my protein choices, adding flax seed to my cereal and baked goods, and using canola oil for cooking when it fits the flavor profile (but I prefer the taste of olive oil).
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    I think the poor o3 to o6 ratio of the SAD diet comes from eating lots of vegetable oil, grainfed rather than grass fed meat, and eating little to no fish. I know so many people who don't eat any fish ever. I eat fish only once a week, so I take a supplement. I know they aren't sure supplements help, but I figure it's better than nothing until I figure out how to get more fish in. I think you can make the case that this ratio being out of whack is one of the primary dangers of the SAD diet, though it's a constantly changing conversation.

    Not everyone thinks about stuff like that, many people here really do just want to lose weight, and often just doing so can improve their health tremendously. I do think there is value in paying Attn to those sorts of details, but not everyone wants to :) It doesn't mean they don't care about their health, just that they picked their battles differently than you did.

    And the fact that most of the carbs in the SAD come from grains (and potatoes cooked in vegetable oil) rather than vegetables and fruits.

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